Ghislaine Maxwell arrested: Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-lover detained by FBI in child sex probe
GHISLAINE Maxwell was today sensationally arrested for her alleged ‘unspeakable’ part in delivering young girls into the hands of paedo Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell’s arrest comes almost a year after Epstein was arrested and then killed himself in prison in mysterious circumstances.
The British socialite and heiress, who was the billionaire’s lover, is accused of ‘delivering underage girls into Epstein’s trap’ by grooming them and ‘putting them at ease as an adult woman’ as she stood over the pervert as he carried out his sick abuse.
She was arrested on Thursday morning on charges of conspiring with Epstein to sexually abuse minors and is expected to appear in a federal court later today.
The place of her arrest is understood to be close to the home of her alleged boyfriend Scott Borgerson in Bedford, New Hampshire.
And at a dramatic press conference in New York this afternoon, prosecutor Audrey Strauss said she would “welcome” Prince Andrew – to make a statement and “help the investigation”.
The prince has faced backlash over his friendship with the disgraced financier and faced allegations from victim Virginia Roberts, who claims she had sex with the royal on several occasions.
Andrew, who denies the claims, has been locked in a six-month stand-off with authorities in America, who claim the prince has declined their request for an interview.
But the Duke of York insists he has offered three times to be a witness in the case.
The acting Manhattan US Attorney said today: “Our doors remain open and we would like to hear from him and have the benefit of his statement.”
In describing Maxwell, she said: “Maxwell played a critical role in helping Epstein to identify, befriend and groom minor victims for abuse.
“In some cases, Maxwell participated in the abuse herself.”
The FBI’s William Sweeney today branded Maxwell “a villain” and said she had been arrested without incident.
He added: “We have been discreetly keeping tabs on Maxwell’s whereabouts as we work this investigation, and more recently we gathered she had slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire.
“She continued to live a life of privilege while her victims lived with the trauma inflicted upon them years ago”.
Charges against Ghislaine Maxwell:
- Count one: Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Count two: Enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Count three: Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Count four: Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Count five and six: Perjury – the offence of willfully telling an untruth or making a misrepresentation under oath.
Maxwell had not been officially accused of criminal wrongdoing until today.
Her presence “helped put the victims at ease because an adult woman was present” during their interactions with Epstein , the 18-page indictment says.
She has been accused of pretending to be a “woman they could trust” while setting the victims up to be abused by herself and Epstein.
Ms Strauss said: “Maxwell and Epstein worked together to entice these minor victims to travel to Epstein’s residences – his residence in New York City on the Upper East Side, as well as Palm Beach, Florida, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
“Some of the acts of abuse also took place in Maxwell’s residence in London, England.”
Maxwell also “compounded her crimes by repeatedly lying in 2016 when she was questioned under oath”, Ms Strauss said.
She continued: “Maxwell lied because the truth as alleged was almost unspeakable, Maxwell enticed minor girls, got them to trust her, then delivered them into the trap that she and Epstein had set for them.”
Jennifer Aroaz, one of Epstein’s victims who is not part of the indictment, said: “Today, my fellow Epstein survivors and I are able to take a breath of relief, as Maxwell’s arrest means some justice for survivors can exist.
“For years, I feared Epstein and his ring. Maxwell was the center of that sex trafficking ring. Now that the ring has been taken down, I know that I can’t be hurt anymore.
“Day after day, I have waited for the news that Maxwell would be arrested and held accountable for her actions.
“Her arrest is a step in that direction, and it truly means that the justice system didn’t forget about us.”
A jury returned a six-count indictment dating back to 1994 which involve three unnamed victims.
The document claims the three female victims were as young as 14 when they were allegedly recruited, groomed and abused by Maxwell and Epstein.
It adds that the pair “knew for certain” the victims’ ages.
Maxwell is said to have repeatedly lied when questioned about her conduct in order to conceal her alleged crimes.
The indictment says that Maxwell was in an “intimate” relationship with disgraced sex abuser Epstein in the mid-90s and was paid to manage his properties.
By 1994 she is accused of working to entice and groom multiple minor girls to engage in sexual acts with Epstein.
Her methods are said to include attempting to befriend victims by asking about their lives, their schools and their families and by building up “friendships” by taking them to the movies or shopping.
THE FULL INDICTMENT IS PUBLISHED IN BELOW
The indictment says Maxwell and Epstein would attempt to create time alone with their victims.
Maxwell is accused of massaging Epstein in front of the victims and encouraging them to give Epstein massages – during which the victim would be fully or partially nude.
After developing a rapport with the victims, Maxwelll is accused of normalising seuxal abuse by “discussing sexual topic, undressing in front of the victim, being present when a minor victim was undressed, and/or being present for sex acts involving the minor victim and Epstein”.
Maxwell is accused of being present for and participating in sexual abuse of minor vicitms and knowing that Epstein had a prefernce for underage girls.
The indictment goes on to say that many of those massages resulted in Epstein sexually abusing the minor victims.
Maxwell encouraged certain victims to accept Epstein’s assistance when he offered to pay for travel and/or educational opportunities.
The indictment says that as a result “the victims were made to feel indebted and believed that Maxwell and Epstein were trying to help them”.
Epstein’s resulting abuse of minor victmis included “touching a victim’s breast, touching a victim’s gentials, placing a sex toy such as a vibrator on a victim’s genitals, directing a victim to touch Epstein while he masturbated, and directing a victim to touch Epstein’s genitals”.
The indictment says around 1994 and 1997, Maxwell facilitated Epstein’s access to minor victims in multiple locations including Epstein’s properties in Manhattan, New York; Palm Beach, Florida and New Mexico.
Maxwell is accused of perjuring herself when she said she was unaware that Epstein was having sexual relations with anyone other than herself and two other people.
Today, my fellow Epstein survivors and I are able to take a breath of relief, as Maxwell’s arrest means some justice for survivors can exist.
Jeffrey Epstein Survivor Jennifer Araoz
It comes two weeks after the New York attorney who was investigating Epstein was fired because he reportedly refused to drop his demands to interview Prince Andrew.
Epstein, a registered sex offender, was arrested last summer on new federal charges of exploiting dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.
He attempted suicide in custody in late July, and then died after another suicide attempt in early August.
Two of the guards tasked with monitoring Epstein now face federal charges for not properly supervising him before his death.
One day before his suicide, a federal appeals court released the transcript of a 2016 deposition in which Epstein repeatedly refused to say whether Maxwell had procured young girls for him.
Spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment on Maxwell’s arrest today.
Lawyers for Epstein’s victims hired private investigators to try to find her and have issued writs at a number of addresses worldwide, without success.
The FBI also wants to quiz Maxwell over her links to Epstein, whose crimes have been detailed in Netflix documentary Filthy Rich.
She was last seen in August 2019 at a takeout burger restaurant in Los Angeles after remaining in hiding since Epstein was arrested in last June.
It is claimed she also introduced Prince Andrew to US “sex slave” Virginia Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre.
Roberts has accused Maxwell of recruiting her to work as Epstein’s masseuse when she was 15.
She claims Maxwell directed her to give erotic massages and engage in sexual activities with Prince Andrew and others, and says she had sex with the royal “three times, including one orgy”.
The first encounter allegedly took place in Maxwell’s London home when Virginia was 17.
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In April, Epstein accuser Maria Farmer, now 50, filed a sworn affidavit alleging she and her 15-year-old sister were sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell in 1996.
She claimed Maxwell acted as a “madam”, driving around New York plucking young women off the streets, supposedly to become models, only to take them to be abused by Epstein and his pals.
While Maxwell was missing, The Sun offered a £10,000 reward for information on her location.