Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite and heiress who became a confidante of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and was later accused of involvement in his alleged sexual crimes, has been arrested by the FBI, two senior law enforcement sources tell News 4 New York.
She was arrested in Bedford, New Hampshire around 8:30 a.m. on charges she conspired with Epstein to sexually abuse minors, and is expected to appear in a federal court later today, the sources say.
The six-count indictment alleges that Maxwell helped Epstein groom girls as young as 14 years old, going back as far as 1994.
“In some instances, Maxwell was present for and participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims,” the indictment says.
The daughter of media baron Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine was a one-time girlfriend of Epstein’s and was at the high-flying investor’s side for decades.
But she was also alleged to have helped Epstein groom teen girls for sex with the rich and powerful. One of those teens, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, leveled that charge against Maxwell in a 2015 defamation suit, as have a number of other women.
Epstein, a registered sex offender who nonetheless kept company with presidents and captains of industry, was arrested last summer on new federal charges of exploiting dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.
He attempted suicide in custody in late July, and then died after another suicide attempt in early August. Two of the guards tasked with monitoring Epstein now face federal charges for not properly supervising him before his death.
One day before his suicide, a federal appeals court released the transcript of a 2016 deposition in which Epstein repeatedly refused to say whether Maxwell had procured young girls for him.
Maxwell has stayed below the radar since Epstein’s death, as speculation swirled about whether she could face repercussions for her friend’s alleged abuses.
Story cited here.
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