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Maxwell family have ‘ALREADY started appeal process’ after disgraced socialite found GUILTY of sex trafficking
GHISLAINE Maxwell's family say they have already started an appeal against the disgraced socialite's sex trafficking conviction.
Maxwell, 60, was found guilty of helping paedophile Jeffrey Epstein traffic young girls for sexual abuse.
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Maxwell's sister Isabel and brother Kevin attended court while sibling Ian slammed the prosecution's case and the Brit's treatment in custody.
In a statement released after yesterday's verdict, they said: "We believe firmly in our sister’s innocence – we are very disappointed with the verdict.
"We have already started the appeal tonight and we believe that she will ultimately be vindicated."
They left court looking glum and would not elaborate further.
Maxwell was accused of “serving up” girls for the late multi-millionaire Epstein, her former lover, with the pair described as “partners in crime”.
She showed little emotion as a jury of six women and six men convicted her on five out of six counts of grooming girls for Epstein’s paedophile ring.
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The Brit was found not guilty of enticing a minor to engage in an illegal sex act after more than 40 hours of deliberation.
She now faces spending the rest of her life behind bars - with a likelihood of up to 65 years in prison.
In what was described as the “trial of the century”, the jury heard how Maxwell snared girls as young as 14 for Epstein.
On the final day of the trial on Monday, Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe summed up the prosecution case against Maxwell, who she said was a "grown woman who preyed on vulnerable kids”.
The prosecutor said Maxwell was a “sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing” who “ran the same playbook again and again and again”.
“She manipulated her victims and groomed them. She caused deep and lasting harm to young girls,” Moe said.
"Epstein could not have done this alone. When that man is accompanied by a posh, smiling, respectable, age-appropriate woman, that's when everything starts to seem legitimate."
The trial delved into the seemingly glamourous but deep down seedy and abusive world of Epstein.
At one stage, Prince Andrew, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton were drawn in, when the jury was told they had all flown on Epstein’s private jet, the so-called ‘Lolita Express’.
There is no suggestions that Trump and Clinton knew of any wrongdoing.
Jurors were told about Maxwell and Epstein’s intimate relationship, how they remained friends after splitting and how she acted as his ‘Lady of the House’ to manage his staff.
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Often sobbing as they gave evidence, four women described how they were lured into abuse by Maxwell.
One, identified only as ‘Jane’ detailed how Maxwell recruited her at summer camp and made her feel "special."
She said sexual encounters with Epstein became routine, with Maxwell sometimes present.
What emerged during the trial
- Jury shown creepy pictures of Ghislaine Maxwell giving Jeffrey Epstein a foot massage.
- Maxwell and Epstein pictured lounging in the Queen's log cabin at Balmoral
- Ghislaine Maxwell laid out a schoolgirl outfit for her to wear while serving tea to paedo Jeffrey Epstein.
- Trump, Andrew and Bill Clinton all flew on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet, the paedo millionaire's former pilot said
- Maxwell handed Epstein's housekeeper a "degrading" 58-page booklet which shows staff were told to "see nothing and say nothing".
- A framed photo of Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein kissing shown
Another, going by ‘Carolyn’ said she was usually paid $300 after sexual encounters with Epstein, often by Maxwell herself.
A third alleged victim was Annie Farmer, now 42, who said Maxwell fondled her breasts when she was a teenager at the New Mexico ranch owned by Epstein.
The defence has also sought to portray the accounts of her four accusers as not credible.
Her attorneys argued she was being treated as a stand-in for Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 aged 66 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges.
Defence, attorney Laura Menninger argued that Maxwell had “no motive” for the crimes she’s accused of.
She asked why her client “as a happy, educated woman in her 30s would end her career as a facilitator of sexual abuse”.
“They wanted you to think she was Cruella de Vil and the Devil Wears Prada all wrapped into one,” Menninger told the jury.
“I am not here to defend Jeffrey Epstein. He is not my client.
“The US presented evidence like a sensational tabloid. These were things that Epstein did, perhaps, his crimes. But Ghislaine Maxwell is not Epstein.”
Menninger said the women were motivated to implicate Maxwell by the prospect of a payout from a victim's compensation fund run by Epstein's estate.
The women brought personal injury lawyers with them to interviews with law enforcement agents decades after they said the abuse occurred, she told the court.
"The money brought the accusers to the FBI. Memories have been manipulated in aid of the money,” she said.
Maxwell was arrested suddenly in July 2020 by the FBI after being accused of going into hiding over the allegations.
She was detained as she was deemed a flight risk and was repeatedly denied bail.
And this has sparked a long list of complaints about her jail conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Epstein was a wealthy New York financier who amassed a multi-million dollar fortune and hung out with the world's elite.
The well-connected paedo had a infamous "little black book" including contacts for the rich and famous.
Epstein was first convicted of sex offences in 2008 on a single charge of soliciting prostitution from girls as young as 14.
Prince Andrew’s accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, reacting on Twitter to the verdicts, sent out a warning to the Duke that “others must be held accountable”.
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Sigrid McCawley, attorney for Annie Farmer, one of the victims in the Maxwell Trial, said: "Today's verdict is a towering victory not just for the brave women who testified in this trial, but for the women around the world whose young and tender lives were diminished and damaged by the abhorrent actions of Ghislaine Maxwell."
Jack Scarola, who represented victim 'Carolyn', said: "The conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell is a welcome confirmation of the veracity of the charges brought against her on behalf of the very brave young women whom she directly participated in abusing."
The Charges
GHISLAINE Maxwell was found guilty of five out of six charges over her alleged involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Those charges are:
- Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Transportation of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Sex trafficking conspiracy
- Sex trafficking of a minor
Maxwell was acquitted of the charge of enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex
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Moment Epstein cops raid paedo's Palm Beach house of horrors revealed ahead of Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking verdict
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