Mr. Epstein, 66, hanged himself in his cell at a jail in Manhattan in August 2019, a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges. An indictment said Mr. Epstein had recruited dozens of minor girls to engage in sex acts with him at his mansion in Manhattan and the Palm Beach estate, after which he paid them hundreds of dollars in cash.
Prosecutors, in expanding their case against Ms. Maxwell, not only added two new counts — sex trafficking of a minor and sex trafficking conspiracy — but they also broadened the time period of the allegations they have made.
The original indictment alleged crimes by Ms. Maxwell from 1994 through 1997, leading her lawyers to argue, as they unsuccessfully sought her release on bail, that it was “inherently more difficult to prosecute cases relating to decades-old conduct.” They said that helped to “call into question the strength of the government’s case.”
The sex trafficking of Minor Victim-4 occurred between 2001 and 2004, the new indictment says.
It adds that Ms. Maxwell first met the 14-year-old girl at the Palm Beach residence and over the next three years interacted there with her frequently, while knowing she was a minor.
Describing how Ms. Maxwell groomed the girl, the indictment said she asked the girl about her family and other aspects of her life, and “sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct.”
For example, the indictment said, Ms. Maxwell discussed sexual topics in front of the girl and was present when the girl was nude in the massage room of the Palm Beach residence.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/29/nyregion/ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-epstein.html
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