Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell indicted and arrested
Epstein and Maxwell in 2005. Photo: Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
The FBI on Thursday arrested Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, on charges linked to Epstein's sex crimes, NBC New York reports.
The big picture: Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire and is expected to appear later in federal court in New York. She is charged with conspiring with Epstein, who died in an apparent suicide in prison last year, to sexually abuse minors. "The six-count indictment in Manhattan federal court alleges that Maxwell helped Epstein groom girls as young as 14 years old, going back as far as 1994," per NBC.
Maxwell was indicted on the following counts:
- Conspiracy to Entice Minors to Travel to Engage in Illegal Sex Acts
- Enticement of a Minor 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 Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity
- Perjury (two counts)
What they're saying:
[F]rom at least in or about 1994, up to and including at least in or about 1997, MAXWELL assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to MAWELL and Epstein to be under the age of 18. The victims were as young as 14 years old when they were groomed and abused by MAXWELL and Epstein, both of whom knew that certain victims were in fact under the age of 18.
As a part and in furtherance of their scheme to abuse minor victims, GHISLAINE MAXWELL, the defendant, and Jeffrey Epstein enticed and caused minor victims to travel to Epstein’s residences in different states, which MAXWELL knew and intended would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse. Moreover, in an effort to conceal her crimes, MAXWELL repeatedly lied when questioned about her conduct, including in relation to some of the minor victims described herein, when providing testimony under oath in 2016.
Read the indictment via DocumentCloud.