GHISLAINE-MAXWELL-?-THE-TRAFFICKING-OF-CHILDREN
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In Ghislaine Maxwell’s child sex-trafficking trial, Manhattan federal prosecutors shared a simple, chilling message with jurors in their opening statement: “She knew what was going to happen to those girls.”
Maxwell “preyed on vulnerable young girls, manipulated them and served them up to be sexually abused” by Jeffrey Epstein, said prosecutor Lara Pomerantz. “The defendant was trafficking kids for sex.
Businessman Ian Maxwell, brother of Ghislaine Maxwell gestures during an interview at his office in London, Monday, Nov. 15, 2021. The brother of a British socialite charged with helping Jeffrey Epstein exploit underage girls says her prosecution is “the most over-hyped trial of the century,” designed to break a woman targeted by authorities desperate to blame someone for the late financier’s crimes. Ghislaine Maxwell continues to have the backing of her family, and a family member will be in court at all times to show their support, Ian Maxwell said in an interview ahead of the trial, which is set to begin Nov. 29 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
“Maxwell was Epstein’s best friend and right hand,” Pomerantz said of the late financier, who was arrested in July 2019 in relation to sexually abusing teen girls. “She was involved in every detail of Epstein’s life. The defendant and Epstein were partners in crime.
“She used the same excuse over and over to get the girls to touch Epstein – massage,” Pomerantz argued. “You’ll learn the cover of massage was the primary way the defendant and Epstein lured girls into sexual abuse.
“The defendant massaged Epstein in front of the girls, then encouraged the girls to massage Epstein,” she said. “But what was happening inside those massage rooms was not a massage – it was sexual abuse.
“Sometimes she was even in the room for the massages herself and sometimes, she touched the girls’ bodies,” Pomerantz continued. “And even when she was not in the room, make no mistake: she knew exactly what Epstein was going to do to those children when she sent them to him inside the massage rooms.”
Maxwell, 59 and the daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, has pleaded not guilty on six counts related to her alleged involvement in Epstein’s abuse of minors, some as young as 14 years old.
“When the defendant sent a 14-year-old girl [to] an adult man, she knew exactly what was going to happen,” Pomerantz said.
“She knew exactly what she was doing. She was dangerous,” Pomerantz also remarked. “She was setting young girls up to be molested by a predator.”
Bobbi Sternheim, Maxwell’s lead attorney, used an Old Testament flourish in arguing that Maxwell was getting punished for Epstein’s misdeeds.
“Ever since Eve was accused of tempting Adam for the apple, women have been blamed for the bad behavior of men, and women are often villainized and punished more than the men ever are,” Sternheim said in her opening statement. “The charges against Ghislaine Maxwell are for things that Jeffrey Epstein did.
“But she is not Jeffrey Epstein. She is not like Jeffrey Epstein – and she is not like any of the other men, powerful men, moguls, media giants, who abuse women.”
The indictment cites four accusers – referred to as Minor Victim-1, Minor Victim-2, Minor Victim-3 and Minor Victim-4. Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019, while awaiting trial. Maxwell’s alleged crimes took place from 1994 to 2004, prosecutors have said.
In court on Monday, Maxwell wore a cream-colored sweater and black pants. When she first walked into the courtroom at about 8.30am local time, Maxwell lifted her eyebrows and acknowledged her sister, who was seated in the first row.
An Epstein accuser, Sarah Ransome, arrived at the courthouse shortly before proceedings began, telling reporters: “I never thought this day would come.”
During the lunch break, which came before opening statements, a group gathered outside the courthouse for a purported rally against sex trafficking, though the comments were largely conspiratorial.
A speaker, using a megaphone, said Epstein “didn’t kill himself”. One attendee sported a red-and-white cap, similar to those worn by supporters of Donald Trump, that said the same thing.
Some protesters set up a tent to facilitate the distribution of stickers, some of which expressed skepticism about Covid-19. One woman held a sign that read: “COVID IS NOT A PANDEMIC BUT A HUMAN TRAFFICKING” [issue], along with the words “Illegal Organ Harvesting”.
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Audrey Strauss, acting Manhattan US attorney at the time, contended that Maxwell “played a critical role in helping Epstein to identify, befriend and groom minor victims” and that “in some cases, Maxwell participated in the abuse”.
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