Opening arguments began Monday afternoon in the high-profile trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and former confidante of Jeffrey Epstein, accused of helping him recruit, groom, and sexually abuse young women.
Maxwell, 59, is the daughter of the late British media mogul Robert Maxwell and faces six counts of trafficking-related charges, including enticing minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. She is also accused of conspiracy, including using one of Epstein’s alleged victims to recruit other girls to participate in “paid sex acts with Epstein.” She’s also charged with perjury for allegedly lying under oath during depositions in a civil lawsuit against her.
Prosecutor Laura Pomerantz began her opening statement by telling the story of a 14-year-old girl named “Jane” who was attending a youth camp.
“She was sitting at a picnic table for kids when a man and woman walked by,” Pomerantz told the jury. “The man introduced himself as someone who gave scholarships for kids. They asked Jane for her phone number. What Jane didn’t know then was that this meeting at summer camp was the beginning of a nightmare that would last for years.”
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Pomerantz said Maxwell and Epstein were cohorts who “promised these girls the world.”
She said Maxwell would earn their trust and offer them money to “massage” Epstein, which would turn into an opportunity for Epstein to touch the girls inappropriately.
Pomerantz said Maxwell knew the victims were well below the age of consent but that she preyed on their inexperience and even helped arrange travel for some between Epstein’s homes in Palm Beach, Florida, his Manhattan townhouse, as well as properties in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and London.
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Maxwell has vehemently denied the accusations against her. She has pleaded not guilty, calls the charges “absolute rubbish,” and claims she was mentally manipulated by Epstein.
Her attorney Bobbi Sternheim tried to create distance between Maxwell and Epstein and told jurors the two are nothing alike and that Maxwell is a “scapegoat.”
“She is a target” for women who “believe they were victimized by Epstein,” Sternheim said of her client.
“She is filling that hole and filling an empty chair,” she added. “She is a brand name. She is a lightning rod. She is a convenient stand-in for the man who cannot be here.”
Maxwell and her family have long contended she is paying “a blood price” to satisfy an angry public that wants to see someone punished for Epstein’s crimes.
Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan prison in August 2019, a month after he was arrested on sex trafficking charges.
Authorities arrested Maxwell in July 2020 in her New Hampshire estate.
Prosecutors asked the judge to deny her bail, citing in a detention memo her “strong incentive to flee” and labeling her “an extreme” flight risk. When she was arrested, she had three passports, access to more than $20 million, and high-profile international connections.
Maxwell’s brother, Ian, called Monday’s proceedings “the most over-hyped trial of the century without a doubt.”
“This is designed to break her. I can’t see any other way to read it,” he told the Associated Press. “And she will not be broken because she believes completely in her innocence, and she is going to give the best account she can.”
Unlike other recent high-profile cases, including Kyle Rittenhouse and of the three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, Maxwell’s case will not be televised because cameras are prohibited from federal courtrooms.
The New York Times reported there was a long queue of spectators and news media lined up outside the courtroom in lower Manhattan.
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The trial is expected to last about six weeks and will likely include graphic testimony from the women who say Epstein abused them with Maxwell’s help.
While the charges against Maxwell are between 1994 and 2004, Judge Alison Nathan said she will allow prosecutors to introduce evidence that extends beyond the date range.
Maxwell moved to New York City in 1991 after her father fell off his yacht, named the Lady Ghislaine, and died. The elder Maxwell was facing allegations that he illegally looted his businesses’ pension funds. One of his holdings included the New York Daily News.
Ghislaine Maxwell was living in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when she met and began dating Epstein. By the end of the decade, she was dubbed “the lady of the house” by employees at Epstein’s megamansion in Florida that she would frequently visit.
In 2000, Maxwell moved into a 7,000-square-foot townhouse less than 10 blocks from Epstein. Her home cost $4.95 million and was purchased through a limited liability company with the same address as the office of J. Epstein & Co.
During her time in Florida and New York, Maxwell allegedly helped recruit young girls to give Epstein massages that sometimes turned sexual.
The duo would also throw lavish parties with Maxwell frequently photographed smiling at Epstein’s side.
“Ghislaine was at literally every lit candle in New York City and the Hamptons, both public and private,” publicist R. Couri Hay, who ran into Maxwell at several events, told Town & Country Magazine.
Their social circle included former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump and Prince Andrew of Britain.
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Last March, Maxwell unsuccessfully sued Epstein’s estate for failing to pay her legal fees. Her lawsuit argued that Epstein on multiple occasions promised to support Maxwell financially. She also claimed that Darren Indyke, Epstein’s lawyer and executor of his estate, had also promised to pay her legal fees but never followed through.
Twelve jurors and six alternates were picked Monday morning to hear the case.
If convicted of the charges against her, Maxwell could be facing decades behind bars. Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors carries a 40-year sentence, while the other charges carry penalties of five to 10 years.
