Jurors are deliberating after the prosecution and defense completed their closing arguments in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial.
According to NBC News, federal prosecutors characterized Maxwell as a “dangerous” predator who enabled ex-beau Jeffrey Epstein, 66, while the defense said she was an “innocent” and “wrongfully accused” woman. Maxwell did not take the stand in her own defense, but three accusers testified using pseudonyms — including one who said she was 14 when Maxwell groomed her to sexually pleasure Epstein and trafficked her to other men.
A fourth accuser testified under her real name.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe alleged Maxwell and Epstein shared a “little black book” which contained phone numbers of young girls available for massages. Maxwell’s accusers claimed she forced them to massage or have sex with Epstein, and that Maxwell would also grope them, NBC reported.
Maxwell, who was arrested in July 2020 in New Hampshire, is accused of grooming at least four underage girls, as young as 14, for Epstein to sexually abuse between 1994 and 1997. She has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and other related charges in New York.
Epstein was jailed without bond in July 2019 following allegations that he sex-trafficked dozens of underage girls from 2002 to 2005. The billionaire financier was found hanging in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on August 10, 2019 — sparking skepticism about the circumstances surrounding his death.
Jurors deliberated for 50 minutes on Monday. They are expected to reconvene deliberations on Tuesday.
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[Featured image: AP Photo/John Minchillo, File]
