Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime associate and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, was arrested on Thursday morning in Bradford, New Hampshire. She was charged by federal prosecutors in New York for her role in recruiting, grooming and sexually abusing underage girls in an established criminal enterprise.

Maxwell’s arrest comes nearly a year after Epstein was arrested by federal authorities in New York after he returned on a private jet from Paris.

As of today, Maxwell has been charged with six criminal counts. According to the federal indictment that was unsealed on Thursday, these counts include enticement and conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation and conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and two counts of perjury.

The indictment reads that between 1994 and 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 Maxwell and Epstein to be under the age of 18.” Maxwell’s and Epstein’s victims were as young as 14 years of age.

If convicted on the most serious of charges, Maxwell will face up to 35 years in prison. Her attorney, Lawrence Vogelman, refrained from comment after her Thursday arrest. 

According to court documents, Maxwell has been “hiding out” in multiple locations across New England since Epstein’s arrest last year. While her whereabouts have been unclear, the FBI New York Assistant Director in Charge, William Sweeney, said authorities have “been discreetly keeping tabs” on Maxwell for the past year. 

Epstein’s accomplice apparently changed her phone number, email address, and name for package deliveries multiple times over the past year, and prosecutors identified 15 different bank accounts associated with Maxwell’s name.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of entertainment news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Epstein hanged himself one month after his arrest in August of 2019. Since his death, federal prosecutors have been investigating his associates including Maxwell.

100 CELEBRITIES WHO DIED IN 2019 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

Leave a comment

Read more about: