Ghislaine Maxwell was hit with two new sex trafficking charges Monday — after a new accuser alleged the one-time British socialite recruited her for pedophile Jeffrey Epstein when she was just 14 years old, new court documents show.
The alleged victim, who is now in her early 30s, claims she was recruited to provide Epstein with nude, “sexualized massages” at his Palm Beach residence starting in 2001 and ending in 2004 when the girl was between 14 and 17 years old, the superseding indictment against Maxwell in Manhattan federal court says.
The teen, identified only as “Minor Victim-4,” met Maxwell, now 59, numerous times at the Palm Beach manse and alleges she groomed her to engage in sex acts with the now-deceased billionaire, even though she knew the girl was underage, the records state.
“For example, Maxwell asked Minor Victim-4 about her family and other aspects of her life. Maxwell also sought to normalize inappropriate and abusive conduct by, among other things, discussing sexual topics in front of Minor Victim-4 and being present when Minor Victim- 4 was nude in the massage room of the Palm Beach Residence,” the indictment alleges.
On “multiple occasions” between 2001 and 2004, Maxwell and other Epstein associates called the teen to schedule appointments for massages and then paid her hundreds of dollars in cash once she was done completing the massage and sex acts, the court docs allege.
Throughout that time, Maxwell and other associates allegedly sent the kid gifts, including lingerie, from an address in Manhattan to the teen’s Florida residence, the indictment states.
At some point, Maxwell asked the girl to travel with Epstein and even offered to help her obtain a passport but the victim declined the invitation, the records allege.
The accuser told prosecutors both Epstein and Maxwell encouraged her to recruit other young women, including minors under the age of 18, to provide sexualized massages for the billionaire and when she obliged, she was paid “hundreds of dollars in cash,” the records show.
While the original indictment against Maxwell accused her of sex trafficking-related offenses, the new charges are specifically for the act — she faces a new sex trafficking conspiracy charge and sex trafficking of a minor charge for the fourth alleged victim.
Further, some of the previous charges against Maxwell, including conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, were expanded to a larger time frame to include the new victim’s allegations.
Previously, Maxwell was accused of committing crimes between 1994 and 1997 and she’s now accused of continuing those acts through 2004, a letter sent by the prosecution explains.
She has been locked up at the Metropolitan Detention Complex in Lower Manhattan since federal investigators found her hiding at a New Hampshire mansion over the summer. She has pleaded not guilty to the prior charges and has denied any wrongdoing.
Her lawyers have petitioned to have her released on bail numerous times but the judge overseeing the case has denied the requests.
Her trial is slated to begin on July 12.
