Jeffrey Epstein ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell Arrested on human trafficking
The FBI has arrested British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell on several charges related to the serial human trafficking abuse of girls and young women by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. He was one of Epstein's closest associates. Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and heiress who became a confidante of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, two senior law enforcement sources tell News 4 New York.
Maxwell faces charges that include transporting a minor for the purposes of criminal hot activity to conspiring to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal acts, according to a six-count grand jury indictment that was unsealed Thursday.
A six-count indictment in Manhattan federal court alleges that Maxwell helped the Epstein groom girls go back to 1994, at the age of 14.
Maxwell, 58, was arrested the same day in New Hampshire, the US Attorney's press office for the Southern District of New York tells NPR.
In some instances, Maxwell was present for and participated in the abuse of minor victims, the indictment says.The daughter of media baron Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine was a one-time girlfriend of Epsteins and was at the high-flying investors side for decades.
But she was also alleged to have helped Epstein groom teen girls for with the rich and powerful. One of those teens, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, leveled that charge against Maxwell in a 2015 defamation suit, as have a number of other women since.
Epstein, a registered criminal who nevertheless kept company with industry presidents and captains, was arrested in New York and Florida last summer on new federal charges of exploiting dozens of underage girls in the 2000s.
The new federal charges largely align with allegations by Epstein's victims, who have accused Maxwell of helping the disgraced financier run a human trafficking ring that victimized teenage girls.
Maxwell has previously denied the allegations that link him to Epstein's exploitation of girls and young women - including denials made during oath testimony in 2016 for deposits. The indictment accuses Maxwell of being involved in those charges.
She has been below the radar since Epstein's death, as speculation intensified as to whether she could face the consequences for her friend's alleged abuses.
Epstein got a crooked, well-known deal years ago that protected his co conspirators like Maxwell. Maxwell ran for months, as he too was expected to escape justice. We cant let that happen again - his The victims had to face their day. Court, Nebraska Sen. Ben Saas said in a statement on Thursday.
Sasse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pushed aggressively for the Justice Department to investigate whether what was described as a Sweetheart deal that gave Epstein and others immunity from federal charges in 2007 .
The then Miami attorney Alex Acosta was involved in negotiating the deal - and 12 years later, he resigned as Secretary of Labor amid criticism of the system.
The perjury charges in the indictment stem from a 2016 deposition of Maxwell conducted as part of civil litigation. During that testimony, she denied having given anyone a massage, specifically denied having given Minor Victim-2 a massage and said, "I wasn't aware that [Epstein] was having human trafficking activities with anyone when I was with him other than myself.Asked whether Epstein had a "scheme to recruit underage girls for human trafficking massage," she replied: "I don't know what you're talking about."
