Ghislaine Maxwell is charged with trafficking in the Epstein case

In July last year, 59-year-old Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested in a house in New Hampshire outside New York. She had then been wanted by police for several months on suspicion of having helped billionaire Jeffrey Epstein – who Maxwell was close to – get in touch with underage girls whom he then sexually abused.

Now she is also accused of having actively participated in manipulating a then 14-year-old girl to have sex with Epstein, reports The New York Times. This means that she is now suspected of procuring, the single most serious accusation to date. According to court documents, she or people close to her must have paid the girl money in connection with a number of assaults that were committed in Epstein’s house in Palm Beach, Florida between 2001 and 2004. Maxwell must also have persuaded the girl to in turn recruit more young victims of Epstein.

Found dead in cell

Epstein was arrested by police in July 2019 and charged shortly afterwards with sexually abusing dozens of young girls between 2002 and 2005. He was convicted of similar crimes back in 2008. However, the sentence remained at 18 months’ imprisonment after a settlement with the prosecutor. gradually received harsh criticism for being too gentle.

In August 2019, Epstein committed suicide in his cell in Manhattan.

Ghislaine Maxwell has previously denied any wrongdoing.