Accusers place Ghislaine Maxwell at center of Epstein’s abuse, experts say

The women – who say they met Ghislaine Maxwell at different times – all portrayed her as central to the sexual encounters they had with Jeffrey Epstein.

Two weeks of emotional, explicit testimony at Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex abuse trial from four women who said the British socialite groomed them as teenagers for deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein could largely undercut the defense’s argument that prosecutors are using Maxwell as a scapegoat, legal experts said.

The women – who say they met Maxwell at different times in places as far flung as Florida, New Mexico and London – all portrayed her as central to the sexual encounters they had with Epstein.

Maxwell’s attorneys did rattle three of the four accusers during tough cross-examination and scored two favorable rulings from U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan, who said that two of the four women prosecutors called victims were old enough to consent at the time of the alleged encounters.

But as the defense prepares to mount its case, persuading jurors that Maxwell was not involved will be difficult, some experts said.

“The government has done a good job of keeping the jury focused on Maxwell,” said Sarah Krissoff, a partner at law firm Day Pitney and former federal prosecutor. “The government will argue that the fact that each victim has a different story – and didn’t exaggerate Maxwell’s role in that story – demonstrates the credibility of those accounts.”

Prosecutors, who say Maxwell recruited and groomed four teenage girls for Epstein from 1994 to 2004, rested their case on Friday in Manhattan federal court.

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of sex trafficking and other charges. Her attorneys did not reply to a request for comment for this story.

Her attorneys have argued that she is a “convenient stand in” for Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges.