Ghislaine Maxwell is said to have introduced minors to US billionaire Jeffrey Epstein so that he could abuse the girls. Now the public prosecutor’s office has made its plea.
New York – At the end of the sexual abuse trial of millionaire Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-partner, the prosecution painted a harsh picture of Ghislaine Maxwell.
Prosecutor Alison Moe said in her closing speech on Monday in New York, according to US media reports, that she was “dangerous” and a “sophisticated sex offender”. “She manipulated her victims and prepared them for sexual abuse,” the New York Times quoted the prosecutor as saying. Maxwell was “smart” and “smiling” and so lured the alleged victims, who often came from problematic family backgrounds, into a trap.
In the trial of the longtime confidante of the multimillionaire Epstein, who died in 2019, the prosecution wants to convince the jury that Maxwell played a central role as an assistant in setting up a ring for the abuse of minors. She is charged on six counts and faces many years in prison if convicted. Maxwell had always denied the allegations. Her lawyers wanted to make their plea later on Monday.
The defense attorneys present the case as a legal settlement with their client, since the public prosecutor’s office can no longer prosecute Epstein. The 66-year-old was found unconscious in his prison cell while preparing for his abuse trial in August 2019 and was pronounced dead in the hospital. An autopsy report found suicide.
The trial against Maxwell, originally scheduled for six weeks, could end much earlier. After only three weeks and twelve days of trial with testimony, the closing arguments began. According to CNN, the jury has until Wednesday to deliberate and make a decision before the Christmas break. However, further consultations are also possible in the following week. dpa
