Ghislaine Maxwell, ex-partner and alleged accomplice of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was accused by the prosecutor on Monday of “sexually abusing four women while they were underage”. The prosecution asks the jury in the trial to hold 59-year-old Maxwell responsible for this.
The prosecutor, Alison Moe, described Maxwell at the end of the closing argument as “a grown woman hunting vulnerable children.”
After Moe’s closing arguments, the British lawyer, Laura Menninger, took the floor. According to her, her client is innocent. “They certainly proved that Jeffrey Epstein was abusing his money and power, but that has nothing to do with Maxwell.”After Menninger’s plea, the jury will consider it. It is not known how long that will take.
According to prosecutor Moe, Maxwell gained the girls ‘ trust and then had them abused by billionaire Epstein, for whom she also worked. Moe doesn’t believe Maxwell didn’t know about Epstein’s abuse because the two had a long relationship.
“Partners in crime”, as Maxwell and Epstein were described by the prosecution. “If you’ve been with someone for 11 years, you know what the other person likes. Epstein liked underage girls. He liked to touch them. Maxwell knew that.”
Lawyers: ‘Maxwell is seen as a scapegoat’
Maxwell pleaded not guilty in court. During the trial, the defence questioned the testimony of the four women and called in a memory expert. Maxwell’s lawyers say that their client is considered a scapegoat by the prosecutors, because Epstein himself can no longer be prosecuted. He committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting a sexual assault case against him.
The trial in New York will end sooner than expected. The defence called nine witnesses to speak in two days. Maxwell didn’t speak. The prosecutors called 23 witnesses in the previous two weeks, including the four alleged victims. It was expected that the trial would take about six weeks. Maxwell could get up to 80 years in prison.