The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was held in prison on charges of mediating for sexual abuse, begins today.
Maxwell, who will appear before a judge in New York, is expected to deny the charges.
Maxwell is accused of finding underage girls for Jeffrey Epstein, who has been convicted of pedophilia.
Epstein committed suicide in 2019 while in prison, where he was awaiting trial.
The trial of Maxwell, 59, who was Epstein’s girlfriend for a period, is expected to take six weeks.
The prosecution will present different witnesses and evidence to the court during the trial. Maxwell’s defense team will try to raise questions about the honesty of these witnesses.
It is noted that lawyers will use the testimonies of psychiatrists to defend Maxwell.
Maxwell’s family members and lawyers had filed multiple applications for bail that were denied, with complaints such as prison conditions.
Maxwell, who also holds French and American citizenship, was arrested in July 2020.
The trials of Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of British media baron Robert Maxwell, will not be filmed.
What are the charges against Maxwell?
The last two charges against Maxwell are from 2001-2004.
Before that, there were six similar charges in his file. Four of these are Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes of mediating the sexual abuse of 14-year-old children between 1994-1997; the other two cover “perjury” crimes from 2016.
In 2016 testimony, Maxwell claimed that Epstein had no testimonies of “inappropriate situations with underage girls”; “I never saw anything about Jeffrey’s inappropriate situations with underage girls.” he said.
Asked whether Jeffrey Epstein had forced the masseuses into non-consensual sex, he replied:
“During my entire stay at home, I have never seen, heard or witnessed such a situation, nor have I even been notified that such an incident occurred.”
Maxwell also claimed in his testimony that he had not hired anyone under the age of 18 to work in Epstein’s homes or engaged in mass sex.
Maxwell could face up to 35 years in prison if found guilty on these six charges, which he claims he didn’t commit.
Maxwell, once Epstein’s girlfriend and later alleged to have helped Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls, has not been seen publicly since Epstein’s detention in July 2019, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Federal prosecutors in New York filed an indictment on charges that between 2002 and 2005 Epstein had sexual intercourse with minors, including 14-year-old girls, for money at his New York home and Florida mansion.
Epstein, who denied the accusations, killed himself in his cell in Manhattan in August 2019.
Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?
Epstein’s one-time girlfriend, Maxwell, is the daughter of British media baron Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991.
It is stated that Maxwell introduced Epstein to names such as Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew, the third child and second son of the Queen of England 2. Elizabeth, using her connections.
On July 2, 2020, 59-year-old Maxwell, who was arrested by the FBI at his New Hampshire state mansion and sent to New York to be brought before a judge, claims that he was unaware of the sexual abuse allegations against Epstein.