Ghislaine Maxwell was “complicit” within the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of teenage women, a prosecutor stated on Monday in her closing argument on the British socialite’s prison trial, urging jurors to “maintain her accountable.”
Assistant U.S. Legal professional Alison Moe’s two-hour closing argument adopted a three-week trial which included testimony from 4 girls who stated Epstein abused them after they have been youngsters. Moe pushed again in opposition to the protection’s description of Maxwell as unaware of Epstein’s habits.
“Ghislaine Maxwell made her personal selections. She dedicated crimes hand in hand with Jeffrey Epstein. She was a grown lady who knew precisely what she was doing,” Moe stated.
“She knew. She was complicit. She is responsible,” she added.
Learn extra:
Ghislaine Maxwell refuses to testify as defence rests case in intercourse abuse trial
Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not responsible to intercourse trafficking and different crimes. Prosecutors say she recruited and groomed teenage women to be abused by Epstein between 1994 and 2004.
She might resist 70 years in jail if convicted on the six counts she faces at this trial. Maxwell is also charged with two counts of perjury, which will likely be tried at a later date.
Her attorneys argue that she is being handled as a stand-in for Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 on the age of 66 whereas awaiting trial on intercourse abuse fees. The protection has sought to painting the accounts of her 4 accusers as not credible.
Protection legal professional Laura Menninger is predicted to make a closing argument on Maxwell’s behalf afterward Monday earlier than the jury begins deliberating.
Maxwell often jotted down notes on yellow post-its within the courtroom on Monday whereas listening to Moe’s argument, which included repeated references to $30 million in funds Epstein made to Maxwell within the Nineties and early 2000s.
Maxwell and Epstein dated throughout that interval, and Maxwell continued to work for Epstein as a supervisor for his numerous private properties after their romantic relationship ended. Moe stated Maxwell’s recruitment of ladies for Epstein allowed her to keep up her luxurious life-style.
“You don’t give somebody $30 million until they’re supplying you with precisely what you need, and what Epstein wished was to the touch underage women,” Moe stated. “It was fee for committing horrible crimes with Jeffrey Epstein.”
Moe argued that Maxwell’s presence made younger women really feel comfy spending time with Epstein. In any other case, receiving an invite to spend time with a middle-aged man would have appeared “creepy” and “set off alarm bells,” Moe stated.
“Epstein couldn’t have carried out this alone,” Moe stated. “When that man is accompanied by a complicated, smiling, respectable, age-appropriate lady, that’s when every part begins to look official. And when that lady … acts prefer it’s completely regular for that man to the touch these women, it lures them right into a entice.”
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Enhancing by Noeleen Walder, Matthew Lewis and Mark Porter)