Ghislaine Maxwell loses appeal against sex trafficking

A US court has rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal against her conviction for sex trafficking.

Maxwell, 62, was found guilty in December 2021 of helping disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse young girls.

She was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022.

The judges of the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld Maxwell’s five convictions and said her sentence was “procedurally appropriate.”

A lawyer for Maxwell said she intends to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Epstein, a former friend of Maxwell, committed suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019, five weeks after being arrested and charged with sex trafficking.

Maxwell had claimed she was due to be released under the terms of a 2008 agreement between Epstein and federal prosecutors in Florida.

As part of the agreement, prosecutors agreed not to prosecute his alleged co-conspirators.

Maxwell’s lawyers argued in March that the British celebrity “should never have been prosecuted” because of the “strange” arrangement.

But three judges rejected their arguments, saying Epstein’s agreement not to prosecute him was binding only on prosecutors in South Florida.

The verdict also rejected Maxwell’s claim that she did not have a fair trial because one of the jurors failed to disclose that he had been sexually abused as a child.

Maxwell’s lawyer announced that she would now appeal the conviction before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We are of course very disappointed with the court’s decision and do not agree at all with the result,” Arthur Aidala said in a statement.

“We are cautiously optimistic that Ghislaine will receive the justice she deserves from the Supreme Court of the United States.”

During Maxwell’s trial in 2022, four women testified that they were abused as minors in Epstein’s homes in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.

They told how Maxwell, the daughter of former Daily Mirror owner Robert Maxwell, had persuaded her to give Epstein massages that were sexual.

They claimed they were lured with gifts and promises about how Epstein could use his money and connections to help them.

During the trial, a judge rejected attempts to dismiss the case, including arguments by Maxwell’s lawyers that she had not been given enough time to prepare for trial and that prosecutors had waited too long before filing charges against her.