Federal authorities have charged Ghislaine Maxwell with sex trafficking of a 14-year-old girl.
At the time of this reporting, Maxwell has been jailed nearly nine months on allegations that she helped procure and groom underage victims for late accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
What are the details?
According to the New York Times, the new indictment accuses Maxwell of paying a purported Epstein victim.
Maxwell was charged Monday for the first time with sex trafficking of a minor, according to the report, as federal prosecutors accused her of grooming the 14-year-old girl to engage with sex acts with Epstein.
The teen, identified as Minor Victim-4, was paid “hundreds of dollars in cash” in exchange for the sexual favors.
“A new federal indictment filed in Manhattan charged that on multiple occasions between 2001 and 2004, the girl provided nude massages to Mr. Epstein at his Palm Beach, Fla., estate during which he engaged in sex acts with her,” the Times reported. “The new charges against Ms. Maxwell go further than those contained in an earlier indictment that accused her of helping Mr. Epstein recruit, groom, and ultimately sexually abuse girls, but did not include sex trafficking allegations.”
The new indictment also states that Maxwell and Epstein each prompted the girl to recruit other young girls to “provide sexualized massages to Mr. Epstein.”
In turn, the girl, according to federal authorities, brought “multiple women and girls” to provide such services to Epstein. She and those she recruited were also reportedly paid hefty sums of cash.
“The government made it clear in its original indictment that the process of grooming victims for sexual activity — the seemingly innocuous behavior by a predator to try and break down a victim’s barriers to abusive conduct — would be a central part of its case against Ms. Maxwell,” the report continued. “The new indictment offered more details on how the government might support that accusation against Ms. Maxwell.”
Maxwell’s legal team has yet to publicly comment on the new charges.
Her trial is scheduled for July in federal district court in Manhattan. She pleaded not guilty to the original charges.