The trial begins against Ghislaine, Epstein’s alleged accomplice in his sexual abuse

The most scandalous pedophile ring of the American elite, orchestrated for decades by billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, is far from culminating in his death. A little over two years ago, while waiting for the trial against him to take place, his body was found lifeless in his cell, under conditions so bizarre that they have fueled various conspiracy theories to this day. Suicide, murder, or the perfect escape plan? No clear answer.

But, with Epstein out of the picture, the New York case, previously thwarted in Florida, took a surprising turn, diverting all eyes to Ghislaine Maxwell, who was his girlfriend, later a partner and, as a defendant, alleged accomplice of his atrocities.

Arrested on July 2, 2020, after staying in hiding for months, Madame Epstein will be tried in Manhattan Federal Court as of November 29.

This Tuesday began the total of three days of duration of the selection of the 12 members of the jury and six other alternates, chosen by Judge Alison J. Nathan, among about 600 potential candidates for a trial that could last about six months.

Four anonymous women have seated Maxwell on the bench. Alleged victims who denounce that both they, being adolescents, and other girls, under the age of 18, were sexually abused between 1994 and 2004 at Epstein’s various properties in Manhattan, Palm Beach and New Mexico, as well as at Maxwell’s in London.

Heir to British publishing mogul Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991 when he fell from his yacht Lady Ghislaine near the Canary Islands while facing charges of illegally looting pension funds from his businesses, Ghislaine Maxwell took on the role of indulging Epstein’s darkest vices, manipulating underage victims to bring them to him.

The 59-year-old British socialite now faces six charges of sex trafficking of a minor whistleblower from 2001 to 2004; for recruiting girls, between 1994 and 2004, to be abused by the pedophile Epstein for a decade; and for conspiracy and tempting minors to travel to engage in illegal sexual activities, from 1994 to 1997, implicating them in criminal acts.

Maxwell, who denies all allegations, faces a sentence of up to 80 years in jail. The prosecution will try to show that Madame earned the trust of the young women, taking them shopping or to events, and then persuading them to give Epstein massages, without clothes, and force them to have sex with him, paying them in exchange a few dollars. Girls were often recruited from unstructured families and unprotected nuclei of society.

Lawyers for the state will also argue in the trial that the British participated at times in the alleged abuses. To prove the close relationship they both maintained, having been seen together in public for years on many occasions, prosecutors have prepared compromised material related to the case, like photographs where you can see them both swimming naked.

Accused of managing the network of minors and recruiting young women, some victims have even claimed that Maxwell not only participated in the sexual episodes but also it was she who persecuted them to various parts of the world, where they had fled after the continued abuse, to threaten them if they told anything about what they had experienced.

«I have not committed any crime», The defendant has defended herself from jail. Epstein’s ex-partner pleads not guilty to the charges, but has been denied bail six times due to the risk of flight and has had to remain behind bars until the date of the litigation.

Bad conditions

“I have been attacked and abused for about a year and a half,” she complained to the press last week. “I have not had nutritious food in all that time. There are fluorescent lights that have damaged my eyes. I am weak and fragile. I have no strength. I’m tired. I have no shoes that fit me. They give me rotten food. They do not allow me to exercise,” denounced Maxwell, speaking for the first time from prison to make known the conditions in which she is.

Jeffrey Epstein on March 28 of 2017, one of his last images.

Her attorney, Bobbi Sternheim, says her client is looking forward to trial day so “leave the courthouse without handcuffs or shackles, after her acquittal“, Complaining about the condition she is in and the harshness with which the guards treat her, observing her while she takes a shower and waking her up by lighting her cell every 15 minutes.

Fifteen months after she was indicted for trafficking in minors for the New York sexual predator and made them available to her wide network of contacts, the British woman now faces a life sentence.

Her defense will claim that she is only being tried because Epstein escaped from Justice and hopes to attack the memory of the complainants for events that occurred decades ago.

At least 40 victims reported Epstein, as adults, as the main perpetrator of the sexual abuse they suffered as minors in their day.

The Me Too Movement helped unmask thousands of similar cases in the United States and around the world, many of them leading to complaints from Epstein’s own victims, coinciding in 2016 with Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential elections and the revelation of vulgar, macho and misogynistic comments he had made towards women. Epstein is credited with presenting Melania and Trump at a party, and with them he had been seen on several occasions.

Donald Trump

Following the allegations of child abuse, Trump dissociated himself from Epstein, claiming he was not such a friend of his (“I was never a big fan of him,” he said), but the truth is that their friendship was forged between 1980 and 2000, being neighbors of Palm Beach and going to the same parties in Manhattan.

“Great guy. They say he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and some are younger,” Trump had said of him.

Very powerful personalities had been associated with Epstein and Maxwell, many being guests at their parties, such as those at the Manhattan mansion, valued at $ 80 million. It had dozens of cameras, located per square meter to record what happened there.