US court upholds British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking conviction

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A U.S. court on Tuesday upheld disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction on sex trafficking charges for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls.

Maxwell's lawyers had argued that her convictions violated an agreement Epstein reached with federal prosecutors 15 years ago and violated the statute of limitations. They also cited judicial error and a miscalculation of the federal sentencing guidelines range as reason to reject her conviction and sentence.

But the ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said Epstein’s non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors in Florida didn’t bar federal prosecutors in New York from bringing a case. They also found that Maxwell’s indictment was within the statute of limitations.

Maxwell, 62, was found guilty in December 2021 of luring young girls to Epstein so he could molest them, between 1994 and 2004. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022.

Epstein sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, exploiting vulnerable girls as young as 14. Prosecutors said Maxwell, his longtime companion, helped him and made the abuse possible.

He killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial.

Epstein and Maxwell’s associations with royals, presidents and billionaires were not a prominent part of her trial, but mentions of friends such as Bill Clinton and Donald Trump showed how the pair exploited their connections to impress their prey.

The trial revolved around allegations from only a handful of Epstein’s accusers. Four testified that they were abused in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s mansions in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.

Maxwell is serving her sentence at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida.