Ghislaine Maxwell Is a Tricky Monster—but She Didn’t Fool the Jury
But while this case may have involved
jet-setting millionaires, it was no different from the seedy cases of human trafficking that occur every day in America.
Throughout the three-week trial, the defense used the scapegoat defense, pointing to the figurative empty chair that would have been occupied by Epstein, had he not
taken his own life in 2019 while in federal custody in this case. Maxwell’s attorneys cast Epstein as the driving force behind the trafficking scheme. That may have been true, but that did not mean exoneration for Maxwell.
In fact, the evidence at trial showed that she was an essential component of the scheme.
It was Maxwell who recruited and groomed the victims, earned their trust, and normalized sexual behavior so that they could be exploited. She was, as prosecutors argued,
“the key to the whole operation.” Her motive for assisting Epstein? Prosecutors pointed to the $30 million Epstein paid her between 1999 and 2007.
The term “sex trafficking” conjures the image of a victim being kidnapped, bound and caged against one’s will. In fact, more often, predators use lies and deception to entice vulnerable victims to trust them before engaging in sexual abuse.
As an expert witness testified at the trial, the grooming process may involve giving gifts, building trust and attachment through expressions of concern, bringing up sexual topics in conversation, and slowly escalating sexual interactions
