Ghislaine Maxwell was a 'dangerous and sophisticated' predator, prosecutors say
New video shows the inside of the infamous Epstein mansion as ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore summarises the arguments made in court and jurors begin to deliberate on a verdict for Ghislaine Maxwell.
US prosecutors have called Ghislaine Maxwell a "sophisticated predator" who caused “deep and lasting harm” to young girls by recruiting and grooming them to be sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein.
During closing arguments in the Briton's federal sex trafficking trial, assistant US Attorney Alison Moe said that Epstein could not have preyed on teenage girls for more than a decade without her help.
“Ghislaine Maxwell was dangerous,” Mr Moe told jurors.
The prosecutor said that Maxwell was a “sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing. She ran the same playbook again and again and again.” “She manipulated her victims and groomed them. She caused deep and lasting harm to young girls. It is time to hold her accountable.”
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges stemming from her interactions with four teenage girls from 1994 to 2004.
In that time, the 59-year-old was romantically involved with and then later worked for Epstein, who killed himself at a federal jail in August 2019 while awaiting his own sex trafficking trial.
In November, assistant US Attorney Lara Pomerantz told a New York federal court that Epstein and Maxwell enticed girls, as young 14-years-old, to take part in “so-called massages” by showering them with money and gifts before they were sexually abused.
The prosecutor sought to make clear to a jury of 12 that there should be no confusion about whether Maxwell, the one-time girlfriend of convicted paedophile Epstein, was his puppet or accomplice.
One of the key accusers in the Maxwell trial, identified in court only as “Jane” to protect her identity, has said that one time she was taken to a massage room where he and Maxwell both took advantage of her. Other encounters involved sex toys or turned into oral sex “orgies” with other young women and Maxwell, Jane has said.
Maxwell denies all the charges against her.During the closing arguments on Monday, the prosecutor told jurors that Maxwell was a “posh, smiling age-appropriate woman” who provided cover for Epstein’s “creepy” behaviour.
She described the socialite as the “lady of the house” as Epstein abused girls at a New York mansion, a Florida estate and a ranch in New Mexico.
Throughout the trial- which has just entered its fourth week- Maxwell has seemed active in her defence, frequently writing notes to her lawyers and hugging them as she enters and leaves court.
Last week, ITV News US Correspondent Emma Murphy reported on Maxwell declining to offer evidence at her own trial
On Friday, however, Maxwell declined to take the stand in her own defence, telling the judge the claims against her were unproven.
Her legal team have portrayed her as a scapegoat targeted by the government because prosecutors could no longer bring Epstein to justice.
With closing arguments due to conclude on Monday, it means that jurors may decide Maxwell's fate in time for her 60th birthday on Christmas Day.