Ghislaine Maxwell was ‘complicit’ in Epstein’s sex abuse: prosecutor

"Ghislaine Maxwell made her own choices. She committed crimes hand in hand with Jeffrey Epstein. She was a grown woman who knew exactly what she was doing," the prosecutor said.

Ghislaine Maxwell was “complicit” in the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of teenage girls, a prosecutor said on Monday in her closing argument at the British socialite’s criminal trial, urging jurors to “hold her accountable.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alison Moe’s two-hour closing argument followed a three-week trial which included testimony from four women who said Epstein abused them when they were teenagers. Moe pushed back against the defense’s description of Maxwell as unaware of Epstein’s behavior.

“Ghislaine Maxwell made her own choices. She committed crimes hand in hand with Jeffrey Epstein. She was a grown woman who knew exactly what she was doing,” Moe said.

“She knew. She was complicit. She is guilty,” she added.

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and other crimes. Prosecutors say she recruited and groomed teenage girls to be abused by Epstein between 1994 and 2004.

She could face up to 70 years in prison if convicted on the six counts she faces at this trial. Maxwell also is charged with two counts of perjury, which will be tried at a later date.

Her attorneys argue that she is being treated as a stand-in for Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 at the age of 66 while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges. The defense has sought to portray the accounts of her four accusers as not credible.

Defense attorney Laura Menninger is expected to make a closing argument on Maxwell’s behalf later on Monday before the jury begins deliberating.