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Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime confidante of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has been arrested by the FBI. Maxwell has been in hiding since Epstein’s arrest in 2019.
The New York Times reports she was arrested Thursday, July 2, in New Hampshire on criminal charges linked to his reported sex-trafficking operation. She was accused of helping Epstein “recruit, groom and ultimately abuse” multiple girls, including one as young as 14. She also faces perjury charges.
Maxwell has been repeatedly accused of aiding the millionaire sex offender, and in the new Netflix documentary Filthy Rich, several women shared their stories of her luring them into Epstein’s houses. There, many individuals also claim she forcibly coerced them into performing sex acts.
In a Times report from last year, one alleged Epstein survivor said Maxwell threatened her life after she notified police departments and the FBI about Epstein’s alleged behavior.
“Better be careful and watch your back,” she recalled Maxwell telling her. “I know you go to the West Side Highway all the time. While you’re out there, just be really careful, because there are a lot of ways to die there.”
Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of the most outspoken of Epstein’s survivors, maintains that Maxwell introduced her to British royalty Prince Andrew, adding that she was forced to have sex with him.
Prince Andrew and the royal family have so far denied all claims, with Andrew himself telling journalist Emily Maitlis that he has “no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever” in his infamous defense interview last year. He has since retired from all royal responsibilities permanently.
Maxwell has now been charged with six counts, including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. “In particular, from at least in or about 1994, up to an including at least in or about 1997, Maxwell assisted, facilitated, and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to Maxwell and Epstein to be under the age of 18,” the indictment says, per Vanity Fair.
