Two new raps for Ghislaine
Epstein crony trafficked girl, 14: feds
Ghislaine Maxwell was hit with two more sex-trafficking charges on Monday after a new accuser alleged that the onetime British socialite recruited her for Jeffrey Epstein when she was just 14 years old, court documents show.
The accuser, now in her early 30s, claims that she was recruited to provide the pedophile financier with nude, “sexualized massages” at his Palm Beach, Fla., residence starting in 2001, when she was 14, and ending in 2004 at age 17, according to the superseding indictment against Maxwell in Manhattan federal court.
The woman, identified only as “Minor Victim-4,” met Maxwell, now 59, numerous times at the Palm Beach mansion and alleges that Maxwell groomed her to engage in sex acts with the now-deceased billionaire, even though she knew the girl was underage, the records state.
“For example, Maxwell asked Minor Victim-4 about her family and other aspects of her life. Maxwell also sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by, among other things, discussing sexual topics in front of Minor Victim-4 and being present when
Minor Victim-4 was nude in the massage room of the Palm Beach Residence,” the indictment says.
On “multiple occasions” between 2001 and 2004, Maxwell and other Epstein associates called the teen to schedule appointments for massages and then paid her hundreds of dollars in cash once she completed the massage and sex acts, the court documents allege.
Throughout that time, Maxwell and other associates allegedly sent the girl gifts, including lingerie, from an address in Manhattan to the teen’s Florida residence, the indictment states.
At some point, Maxwell asked the girl to travel with Epstein and offered to help her obtain a passport, but the girl declined the invitation, the records allege.
The accuser told prosecutors that both Epstein and Maxwell encouraged her to recruit other young women, including minors, to provide sexualized massages for the billionaire and that when she obliged, she was paid “hundreds of dollars in cash,” the records show.
While the original indictment against Maxwell accused her of sex-trafficking-related offenses, the new charges are specifically for the act. She faces a new sextrafficking conspiracy charge and a charge of sex trafficking of a minor for the new accuser.
Furthermore, some of the previous charges against Maxwell, including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, were expanded to a larger time frame to include the new accuser’s allegations.
Previously, Maxwell was accused of committing crimes between 1994 and 1997. She’s now accused of continuing those acts through 2004, a letter sent by the prosecution explains.
She has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since federal investigators found her hiding at a New Hampshire mansion over the summer.
She has pleaded not guilty to the prior charges and has denied any wrongdoing. Her lawyers have petitioned to have her released on bail numerous times, but the judge overseeing the case has denied the requests.
Her trial is slated to begin on
July 12.