Ghislaine Maxwell trial: Who are the alleged victims and what are the charges?
The long-awaited trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is facing six sex-trafficking charges, is due to start in New York on Monday.
The charges involve four alleged underage victims and multiple locations over a 10-year period between 1994 and 2004. The youngest alleged victim was 14 years old at the time.
Maxwell also faces two counts of perjury which will be tried separately.
She denies all the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Jeffrey Epstein
Jeffrey Epstein, the wealthy financier and convicted sex offender, is at the heart of all the allegations. Prosecutors claim Maxwell “assisted, facilitated, and contributed” to Epstein’s abuse, which largely took the form of sexualised massages.
Prosecutors claim Ghislaine Maxwell ‘assisted, facilitated, and contributed’ to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse Pic: Sky UK
They argue Maxwell encouraged alleged victims to travel to Epstein’s residences across the US knowing that it “would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse”.
The defendant is also accused of taking part in group sex with Epstein and one alleged victim.
Epstein died in a New York jail in 2019 in an apparent suicide. He was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
The Epstein-Maxwell relationship
In the 24-page indictment, the government claims that Maxwell was in an “intimate relationship” with Epstein between 1994 and 1997, and that for a longer period (1994-2004) he paid her to manage his properties.
The alleged victims
In the US, alleged victims of sexual abuse are not automatically entitled to lifelong anonymity as in the UK. However the judge in the Maxwell trial has decided that all four alleged victims will be able to use a pseudonym or just their first name. Judge Alison Nathan said this would avoid press intrusion and personal embarrassment.
- Alleged Victim 1 – (1994-1997) – New York and Palm Beach, Florida
The first alleged victim was about 14 years old when, according to prosecutors, she first met Maxwell.
Maxwell is accused of grooming the young woman by taking her shopping and to the cinema, normalising abuse by undressing in front of her, and being present and involved in some of Epstein’s abuse.
Defence lawyer Bobbi Sternheim points toward Ghislaine Maxwell standing beside Jeffrey Pagliuca during a pre-trial hearing on charges of sex trafficking, in a courtroom sketch in New York City
The government claims this took place in Epstein’s New York townhouse and at his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, and that the alleged victim was encouraged to travel between Mr Epstein’s residences.
- Alleged Victim 2 – (1996) – New Mexico
The second alleged victim was under 18 when she was flown to Epstein’s New Mexico ranch at his invitation, prosecutors claim. They argue Maxwell knew the woman was under 18 and groomed her with shopping and cinema trips, and by discussing her school classes.
Maxwell is accused of giving the woman an unsolicited massage while the alleged victim was topless, and encouraging her to massage Epstein.
- Alleged Victim 3 – (1994-1995) – London
Maxwell is accused of befriending the third alleged underage victim in London, and grooming her by asking about her life and family. Prosecutors claim Ms Maxwell introduced the woman to Epstein and encouraged her to give him massages, knowing that this would result in sexual abuse.
The location of the alleged abuse is not in the United States, but under US law crimes committed outside the country can be charged within it if the victim or victims are American citizens. The bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998, for example, were prosecuted and tried in a Manhattan federal court.
We therefore presume Alleged Victim 3 is an American citizen.
- Alleged Victim 4 – (2001-2004) – Palm Beach, Florida
The fourth alleged victim lived in Florida and prosecutors claim she was about 14 years old when she was recruited to give Epstein sexualised massages for money at his Palm Beach mansion.
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Ghislaine Maxwell’s brother talks to Sky News about his sister, who is awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges
Maxwell is accused of grooming her by asking about her family, and normalising the abuse by discussing sexual topics and being present when the alleged victim was nude in Epstein’s massage room.
The government says Maxwell was among a number of Epstein employees who phoned the woman to schedule sexualised massages, paid her hundreds of dollars in cash and encouraged her to recruit other young females.
Prosecutors argue Maxwell and others on Epstein’s payroll sent the woman gifts, including lingerie. They also allege Ms Maxwell invited her to travel with Mr Epstein and help her apply for a passport – both offers were declined.
The charges
The six sex-trafficking charges relate to allegations across 10 years as detailed above, but in some cases they are linked to particular alleged victims:
A court sketch of Maxwell
1) Conspiracy to Entice Minors to Travel to Engage in Illegal Sex Acts – The first of the three conspiracy charges concerns all four alleged victims and focuses on the defendant allegedly encouraging them to travel so they could be abused. To prove ‘conspiracy’, prosecutors need to convince the jury that Maxwell and Epstein had an agreement to commit the crimes.
The government says Maxwell took part in group sex with Alleged Victim 1 and Epstein in New York and Florida, and encouraged her to travel between the two so she could be abused by Epstein.
They argue Maxwell gave Alleged Victim 2 an unsolicited massage, and encouraged Alleged Victim 3 to massage Epstein knowing she would be sexually abused.
Prosecutors argue Maxwell encouraged Alleged Victim 4 to travel outside of Florida with Epstein.
2) Enticement of a Minor to Travel to Engage in Illegal Sex Acts – Travel is again important here. The government says that Maxwell did “persuade, induce, entice, and coerce” Alleged Victim 1 to travel from Florida to New York so that the young woman could have sex with Epstein.
3) Conspiracy to Transport Minors with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity – The second conspiracy charge also involves all four alleged victims, and touches on similar allegations to the first conspiracy charge.
Prosecutors claim Maxwell took part in group sex with Alleged Victim 1 and Epstein in New York and Florida on multiple occasions. They say that Maxwell “enticed” her to travel from Florida to New York so this abuse could take place.
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Ghislaine Maxwell’s brother talks to Sky News about his sister, who is awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges
Maxwell is also accused of giving Alleged Victim 2 an unsolicited massage in New Mexico when the young woman was topless.
Prosecutors say Maxwell encouraged Alleged Victim 3 to give Epstein massages knowing she would be abused.
A court sketch of Maxwell
They also claim the defendant encouraged Alleged Victim 4 to travel outside of Florida with Epstein.
4) Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity – This charge mainly focuses on Alleged Victim 1. Maxwell is accused of arranging for her to travel from Florida to New York multiple times so Epstein could sexually abuse her.
5) Sex Trafficking Conspiracy – This charge largely concerns Alleged Victim 4. Maxwell is accused of recruiting her, encouraging her to recruit others, enticing her to engage in sexual acts with Epstein, scheduling her massages, sending her gifts and paying her hundreds of dollars in cash.
6) Sex Trafficking of a Minor – Alleged Victim 4 is partly the focus here. Prosecutors say the defendant “recruited, enticed, harboured, transported, provided, and obtained individuals who were less than 18 years old” to have sex with Epstein.
Maxwell is also facing two charges of perjury (lying under oath) for which she will be tried separately. Both charges relate to a 2016 deposition, when Maxwell was questioned out of court but under oath about Epstein. Prosecutors allege she “repeatedly lied” in an effort to “conceal her crimes”.
7) Perjury – When asked if she was aware of a scheme to recruit underage women for sexual massages with Epstein, Maxwell replied: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She was asked to “list all the people under the age of 18 that you interacted with at any of Epstein’s properties”, and responded that apart from a 17-year-old linked to the deposition: “I’m not aware of anybody that I interacted with”.
8) Perjury – Maxwell said under oath she did not “recall” whether Epstein possessed sex toys. She also claimed she was unaware of Epstein having sex in the 1990s and 2000s with anyone apart from her, and two women with whom they had threesomes. Ms Maxwell also denied ever giving anyone a massage:
Q – Is it your testimony that you’ve never given anybody a massage?
A – I have not given anyone a massage.
Q – You never gave Epstein a massage, is that your testimony?
A – That is my testimony.
Much has been said about the students whose protests have gripped America this past week.
Their cause has been framed in polarising ways. A violent Hamas-sympathising mob? Or peace activists striving for equality?
Within a frenzied spectrum of views and noise, one young student sat down with me for a conversation.
Aidan Doyle, 21, is a philosophy and jazz double major at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
He was arrested early on Thursday morning for being part of an encampment at the university.
He told Sky News he was shocked that the police arrested so many student protesters, despite not intervening in an attack on the protesters by a pro-Israeli group the day before.
Police clash with pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus on Thursday. Pic: AP
He said his arrest had not deterred him from continuing his protest, which he likened to the Vietnam War demonstrations of the 1960s.
Mr Doyle rejected the notion, from President Biden, that the protests are not peaceful.
“Graffiti, putting posters up, that’s all peaceful,” he said, commenting on the president’s statement from the White House.
“I also think that President Biden needs to actually take some introspection and realise that maybe the reason so many of these protests are happening is partially due to him.”
Police advance on demonstrators on the UCLA campus. Pic: AP/Ryan Sun
Mr Doyle added: “Protests in general are part of the American spirit. They’re part of being an American. And if we were to just stand around in circles and sing and dance, and pretend everything was fine, then nothing would change and nobody would care at all.
“Part of a protest is causing disruption and causing at least a minor level of chaos that is, again, not violent but that actually disrupts things.”
He denied any accusations of antisemitism, but conceded there is a spectrum of opinion within the movement.
“If you’re going to criticise a movement, I think you have to look at the movement’s goals and their mission, not what fringe members of the group say or do.
“You have to actually look at what we say, what the organisers say, and what is in the mainstream, and what our mission and our goal is: the peace and prosperity of the Palestinian people.”
Asked if he believed in Israel’s right to exist as a country, he said: “I think Jewish sovereignty is incredible. I think it’s an amazing thing.”
Demonstrators are detained on the UCLA campus. Pic: AP
He added: “I think that if there is a country for Jewish people that protects the Jewish people, that is of utmost importance, especially with the vile and rampant antisemitism that exists across the world that I see every day and that I try and combat as much as possible.
“But doing that and then simultaneously repressing another group of people, dehumanising them and brutalising them, then the question of whether your state has the right to exist becomes secondary.”
On the grass outside the university library, it is as though it never happened.
The tents have been removed. The pavements have been sprayed. The graffiti removed.
Order and control have been restored. The protest has been silenced. For now at least.
A few streets away, at the university police station, an officer calls the names of the students arrested the night before.
On the steps in front of him, the bedraggled are waiting.
Pic: Reuters
Police clash with pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the UCLA campus early on Thursday morning. Pic: AP
Students, charged and released with a date in court, are here now to collect their belongings. They’re missing bags, belts, shoes, all lost in the chaos of the night before.
From the very heart of the protest encampment, our cameras had captured the chaos.
Officers moving in. Tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse. Stun grenades to disorientate.
Police detain a demonstrator, as they clear out the protest encampment in UCLA.
Pic: Reuters
They were scenes which have stirred an already fevered debate about Israel and Gaza, yes, but about much more too. About America, about policing, and about free speech too.
President Biden said yesterday: “Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations – none of this is a peaceful protest.”
‘Wrong’ say the protesters. Their movement, they say, is the very essence of protest; of civil disobedience which is threaded through US college campus history.
Law enforcement official moves a tent at the protest encampment in support of Palestinians at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
Signs of the days-long protest on campus being gradually cleared.
They reject any notion that they are threatening or violent. Yet the deeply divisive history of the Israel-Palestine conflict ensures that the beholder will so often be offended by the actions of the other side.
It was the students perceived antisemitism through their pro-Palestinian slogans which had drawn a group of pro-Israel protesters to the encampment earlier in the week.
The chaos of that night was reflected in a statement by the university’s student radio station which has been covering every twist.
This embrace turned out to be a thread of history
“Counter protestors used bear mace, professional-grade fireworks and clubs to brutalize hundreds of our peers, UCLA turned a blind eye. Police were not called until hours into the onslaught and stood aside for over an hour as counter-protestors enacted racial, physical and chemical violence,” the statement from the UCLA Radio Managerial team said.
Watching the clear-up after the nighttime police sweep of the protesters I spotted two people embracing. A young man and an older woman.
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Professor recalls violent arrest at protest
It turned out to be a thread of history. One was a student who’d been arrested the night before.
The other was a student from a past time. Diane Salinger had been at New York’s Columbia University in 1968, at protests which now form a key chapter in American history.
Diane Salinger had been at New York’s Columbia University in 1968, at protests which now form a key chapter in American history
“I’m so proud of these people here. I’m so proud,” she told me.
“You know the civil unrest of the students back in ’68 and it continued for several years, it actually changed the course of the Vietnam War and hopefully this is going to do the same thing.”
But then, back at the police station, a conversation that hints at the wider challenges for America.
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‘Tom’ is a protester who wanted to remain anonymous – a graduate who feels politically deserted in his own country. For him, no government is better than any on offer.
‘Tom’ is a protester who wanted to remain anonymous – a graduate who feels politically deserted in his own country.
“The problem with our system is that we can’t rely on the police, we can’t rely on the military to keep us safe.
“When we need to make our voices heard, we need to make them heard, and the only way to do that without being repressed is by keeping each other safe and I think that last night and the last few months have really exemplified that,” he told me.
These protests are about more than Gaza. They are aligning a spectrum of dissent.
A scuba dive boat captain has been jailed for four years for criminal negligence over a fire that killed 34 people.
Captain Jerry Boylan was also sentenced to three years supervised release by a federal judge in Los Angeles, California.
The blaze on the vessel named Conception in September 2019 was the deadliest maritime disaster in recent American history.
Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer last year.
Captain Jerry Boylan. Pic: AP
The charge is a pre-Civil War statute, known colloquially as seaman’s manslaughter, and was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters.
In a sentencing memo, lawyers for Boylan – who is appealing – wrote: “While the loss of life here is staggering, there can be no dispute that Mr Boylan did not intend for anyone to die.
“Indeed, Mr Boylan lives with significant grief, remorse, and trauma as a result of the deaths of his passengers and crew.”
The Conception was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, 25 miles south of Santa Barbara, when it caught fire before dawn on the final day of a three-day voyage, sinking less than 30 metres from the shore.
Thirty-three passengers and a crew member died, trapped below deck.
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The victims included an environmental scientist, a Singaporean data scientist and a family of three sisters, their father and his wife.
Boylan jumped overboard, and four crew members who followed suit also survived.
The burned hull of the dive boat. Pic: AP
Boylan initially faced 34 counts of seaman’s manslaughter, meaning he could have faced a total of 340 years behind bars.
His lawyers argued the deaths were the result of a single incident and not separate crimes, so prosecutors instead charged Boylan with only one count.
While the criminal case has concluded, there are several ongoing lawsuits.
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