Jury deliberations resume in Ghislaine Maxwell trial

NEW YORK — A jury resumes deliberations today at the sex trafficking trial of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

The jury enters its second full day of considering the fate of Maxwell after hearing from witnesses and seeing evidence for three weeks as prosecutors tried to prove that Maxwell was the crucial enabler of financier Jeffrey Epstein’s proclivity to sexually abuse teenage girls.

Maxwell, 59, was arrested in July 2020 on charges she groomed girls as young as 14 to think it was acceptable and normal for them to engage in sexualized massages with Epstein, her onetime boyfriend and eventual close friend and employer, in return for $100 bills.

Prosecutors say she sometimes joined in the abuse between 1994 and 2004 after recruiting girls with promises that Epstein’s wealth and connections to powerful people could fund and enable their dreams. Often, the girls came from financially strapped families living in desperate or strained circumstances, the government said.

Yesterday, the jury signaled that a verdict was not imminent when it asked to finish deliberating today at 4:30 p.m. The judge has told jurors that they can deliberate tomorrow as well, if they wish.