‘Promised girls the world’: Ghislaine Maxwell accused of grooming victims for Jeffrey Epstein as trial begins

Ghislaine Maxwell was Jeffrey Epstein’s “partner in crime” who preyed on young girls for the billionaire to abuse, the socialite’s sex trafficking trial has heard.

Accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, the former partner of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, is set to face trial in New York. Picture: AFP

Ghislaine Maxwell was Jeffrey Epstein’s “partner in crime” who “targeted young girls for sexual abuse”, the prosecution has claimed as the British socialite’s trial got underway in New York.

The jury of seven women and five men heard how Maxwell and the late billionaire financier went after young girls with “difficult home lives” and would “promise them the world”.

“(Maxwell) put them at ease ... all so they could be molested by a middle-aged man,’ said Assistant US Attorney Lara Elizabeth Pomerantz.

“There were times when she was in the room when it happened.”

Ghislaine Maxwell embraces her defence lawyers after entering the courtroom for the start of her trial on charges of sex trafficking, in a courtroom sketch in New York City. Picture: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

Maxwell “made those girls feel seen. They made them feel special. But that was a cover,” Ms Pomerantz told the jury.

In fact, she “served them up to be sexually abused,” she said.

Ms Pomerantz said Maxwell was the “lady of the house” in financier Epstein’s world who maintained “a culture of silence” over their years-long arrangement to sexually exploit girls under 18 years old.

Maxwell “knew exactly what Epstein was going to do to those children when she sent them in those massage rooms”, she told the court.

The long-awaited trial of Maxwell, the alleged madam of convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, got underway at a federal court in New York on Monday local time.

Twelve jurors and six alternates were this morning sworn in from a wider pool of candidates to hear the case following a painstaking selection process ahead of opening statements.

Prosecutors allege that Maxwell “assisted, facilitated, and contributed” to Epstein’s abuse of girls as young as 14-years-old, dating back decades.

She faces up to 80 years behind bars if found guilty.

Sarah Ransome, an alleged victim of Jeffery Epstein, arrives for the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse. Picture: AFP

Isabel Maxwell, the sister of Ghislaine Maxwell, arrives at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse. Picture: AFP

Sarah Ransome, one of the women who have accused the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his former girlfriend Maxwell of abuse, arrived at the court.

“I never thought this day would come,” she told reporters.

Ms Ransome, who was born in South Africa to wealthy British parents, claimed she tried to escape Epstein’s “paedophile island” after being raped three times in one day, however she will not be testifying.

Maxwell’s elder sister Isabel was seen entering the court in a show of support for her sister.

Brother Ian Maxwell has said one of her six siblings will support the former socialite in court each day.

People gather to protest human trafficking at the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse where the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell is being held. Picture: AFP

“Maxwell played a critical role in helping Epstein identify, befriend and groom minor victims for abuse,” then-acting US lawyer Audrey Strauss told reporters following Maxwell’s arrest.

“In some cases, Maxwell participated in the abuse herself.”

The sprawling saga is now set to come to a head with proceedings primed to likely stir the mixture of lurid detail and extreme wealth that has sustained global interest in her case.

Prosecutors are expected to argue that Maxwell worked with Epstein to sexually abuse girls between 1994 and 2004. Maxwell lived with Epstein for years and was his frequent companion on glamorous trips around the world.

Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005. Picture: Getty Images

He was found dead in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide. Maxwell’s lawyers are expected to argue she is being punished by proxy for Epstein’s crimes.

The prosecution’s case will hinge on the testimony of four women who say the British socialite helped the late financier sexually abuse them decades ago.

Maxwell’s lawyers have said that they plan to cast doubt on the accusers’ accounts, in part by using Elizabeth Loftus, a psychologist and professor at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, on the stand to explain how people can develop false memories of past events.

Ghislaine Maxwell stands before US District Judge Alison J. Nathan with her defence team of Bobbi Sternheim, Christian Everdell, Laura Menninger, Jeffrey Pagliuca during a pre-trial hearing ahead of jury selection in New York on November 15. Picture: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

“She will explain how, in a case like this one, suggestion can lead individuals to the construction of distorted memories,” Jeffrey Pagliuca, a lawyer for Maxwell, said in the filing.

US District Judge Alison Nathan of the Southern District of New York has limited the scope of the trial to focusing specifically on allegations that she helped Epstein recruit and abuse four underage girls in the 1990s.

The prosecution will subsequently not be allowed to delve unnecessarily into the social and business relationships of Epstein, which included former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, and Britain’s Prince Andrew.

In partially redacted recent court filings, federal prosecutors and lawyers for Maxwell argued over whether “Exhibit 52” – a “little black book” that was once kept in Epstein’s mansion and lists contact information for rich and powerful people — can be entered into evidence at her trial, The Times reports.

US prosecutors allege the directory contains “compelling evidence of her guilt” including “contact information for victims who interacted with the defendant during the relevant time period”, according to court papers.

Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in London on March 13, 2001 Picture: Florida Southern District Court/Supplied

Maxwell’s lawyers claim the document is “an unauthenticated hearsay document from suspect sources”.

“Ms Maxwell requests that the government be precluded from discussing the book at trial prior to a proper evidentiary foundation being established,” Maxwell’s lawyers wrote in a court filing.

At the request of Maxwell’s lawyers, Judge Nathan asked candidates during jury selection: “Do you have any opinion about people who are wealthy or have luxurious lifestyles that might make it difficult for you to be fair and impartial?” Twelve jurors selected from a pool of hundreds will be impanelled prior to opening statements on Monday.

Maxwell is not likely to be questioned about allegations made by Australian woman Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an alleged victim who said in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell trafficked her to Prince Andrew when she was 17. He has denied the allegations.

Maxwell has been held without bail in a Brooklyn jail since her arrest at her luxurious hide-out in Bedford, New Hampshire in July 2020.

The trial is expected to last six weeks.