Ghislaine Maxwell a ‘dangerous predator’ who had a ‘playbook of abuse’ for vulnerable young girls, prosecutors say
A middle-aged man showing an interest in young girls would be ‘creepy’. ‘But when that man is accompanied by a posh, smiling, respectable, age-appropriate woman, that’s when everything starts to seem legitimate.’
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Ghislaine Maxwell is a “dangerous predator” who was the key to Jeffrey Epstein’s empire of abuse, prosecutors in her child sex trafficking trial said in closing arguments.
“She was a grown woman who preyed on vulnerable kids,” prosecutor Alison Moe said on Monday in a fiery address to the jury on day 13 of the socialite’s trial.
“She was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing.”
Ms Moe said the defendant had “ran the same playbook again, and again, and again” as she threaded together patterns of behaviour from each of the four accusers who testified they were abused by Ms Maxwell and Epstein after being “isolated” at his palatial properties.
Those similarities between their testimony was “incredibly powerful evidence of the defendant’s guilt”, according to the prosecution.
Ms Maxwell gave cover to Epstein, who as a single, middle-aged man taking an interest in teenage girls would appear “creepy”, Ms Moe said.
“That sets off alarm bells. But when that man is accompanied by a posh, smiling, respectable, age-appropriate woman, that’s when everything starts to seem legitimate.”
In response, defence attorney Laura Menninger said the prosecution’s case was “straight-up sensationalism”.
“Ghislaine was made to look like Cruella de Vil and The Devil Wears Prada all wrapped up into one,” Ms Menninger told the jury.
“Ghislaine is being tried here for being with Jeffrey Epstein. Maybe it was the biggest mistake of her life. But it is not a crime.”
Ms Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to six federal counts, including sex trafficking of minors, enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and three related counts of conspiracy.
She faces up to 70 years in prison if convicted.
Four of Ms Maxwell’s siblings, Kevin, Ian and twins Isabel and Christine, arrived at the federal courthouse in Manhattan with their arms locked together and sat in the front row of the court – the first time all had been present.
As Ms Moe described the prosecution’s eight key points of evidence to the jury, Ms Maxwell appeared detached from proceedings as she wrote and turned the pages of a notebook, occasionally lowering her black mask to take sips of water.
Ms Moe said the accuser known as “Jane” had been left “ashamed, embarrassed and horrified” by what had happened to her, and that explained how her story of suffering abuse had become more vivid as investigators had gained her trust.
She urged the jury to ignore testimony from defence witness, psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, who specialises in “false memories”.
“These women know what happened to their own bodies,” she said. “Your common sense tells you that being molested is something you never forget, ever.”
She referred to a document written in 2002 and retrieved from Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse during a 2019 raid in which Ms Maxwell had written about the pair being “great partners” for the past 11 years.
“When you’re with someone for 11 years, you know what they like. Epstein liked underaged girls. He liked to touch underaged girls. Maxwell knew it. Make no mistake, Maxwell was crucial to the whole scheme. Epstein could not have done this alone,” Ms Moe said.
The prosecutor referred to images shown to the jury of the pair naked in a swimming pool, and of images released publicly of Ms Maxwell massaging Epstein’s feet with her breasts.
A 58-page manual that Ms Maxwell had given employees at the Palm Beach house telling employees to “see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing” showed her central role in keeping Epstein’s secrets, Ms Moe said.
The manual proved that the defence’s claims of Ms Maxwell being “just an employee” who was oblivious to Epstein’s crime were untrue, the prosecutor argued.
“Of course Maxwell knew what was going on in that house. She had an iron grip on what was happening there.”
She would help normalise sexual contact with the accusers by chatting to them about sex and boyfriends, and engage in massages and eventually participate in the abuse herself, the prosecutor told the court.
Three of the accusers had testified that Ms Maxwell gave them massages, and two said she had participated in orgies, Ms Moe said.
In Jane’s case, Ms Maxwell had appeared like a friendly “older sister” to make the sexual abuse appear normal.
“None of it was normal. It was not OK. It was deeply disturbing. They were molesting an underage girl. That’s what Maxwell did.”
After speaking to the jury for just over two hours, Ms Moe finished by saying she agreed with the defence’s opening argument that the case was about “memory, manipulation and money” – just not in the way they had claimed.
She reminded the jury that the accuser known as Carolyn had been given $300 to give Epstein sexualised massages, while Ms Maxwell received $30m (£22.7m) from the wealthy financier.
For the defence, Ms Menninger said the government had failed to prove any of the charges, echoing Ms Maxwell’s remarks when she declined to testify in her own defence on Friday.
She said the accusers had been manipulated by their attorneys to suddenly remember the abuse years after it had allegedly occurred, and prosecutors had accepted the stories without finding evidence to back them up.
“The evidence has established what we told you it would, that the stories relied on by the government are erroneous memories, manipulation and money. But in this case the order is reversed. The money brought the accusers to the FBI where their personal injury lawyers sat right there.”
She said Epstein had manipulated Ms Maxwell, just as he had everyone else. “’We are not here to defend Jeffrey Epstein, he is not my client.”
After a brief rebuttal from prosecutor Maurene Comey, Judge Alison Nathan instructed how the jury should consider each of the six charges before them.
The jury were sent out to deliberate just before 1700 local time [1200 GMT].