Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty to sex trafficking charges

Maxwell is accused of grooming and recruiting teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal sex trafficking charges in the US case accusing her of helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein recruit and sexually abuse girls. Maxwell, 59, entered her plea through her lawyer before US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan. The charges had been included in an eight-count indictment unveiled on March 29. Prosecutors have accused Maxwell of grooming and paying a girl who, starting at age 14, gave Epstein nude massages and engaged in sex acts with him from 2001 to 2004, and that the girl recruited others to offer erotic massages.