Ghislaine Maxwell has been convicted of grooming and trafficking teenage girls for American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
The verdict capped a month-long trial where four women described experiences of sexual abuse in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico.
The trial featured accounts of sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14 which the four women testified to say Maxwell had enabled.
The 60-year-old had pleaded not guilty to all six charges and the jurors deliberated for five full days before finding her guilty of five of the six accounts, according to the Associated Press.
Ms Maxwell has said that she is a scapegoat for Mr Epstein who was her former lover and a convicted sex offender.
Mr Epstein was found dead in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail as he awaited trial.
Ghislaine Maxwell is guilty of sex trafficking young girls for Epstein
A statement from the US attorney’s office said: “A unanimous jury has found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of one of the worst crimes imaginable – facilitating and participating in the sexual abuse of children.
"Crimes that she committed with her long-time partner and co-conspirator, Jeffrey Epstein.
“The road to justice has been far too long. But, today, justice has been done. I want to commend the bravery of the girls – now grown women – who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom.
“Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today’s result, possible.
“I also want to thank the career prosecutors of the Southern District of New York, who embraced the victims’ quest for justice and have worked tirelessly, day in and day out, to ensure that Maxwell was held accountable for her crimes.
“This office will always stand with victims, will always follow the facts wherever they lead, and will always fight to ensure that no-one, no matter how powerful and well connected, is above the law.”
As the verdict was read, Ghislaine Maxwell appeared to show little reaction behind a black mask, according to the PA News Agency.
Ms Maxwell was apparently stood with her hands folded as the jury filed out.
She glanced at her siblings as she herself was led from the courtroom, but was otherwise stoic.
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