Know all about Ghislaine Maxwell who is convicted in Epstein sex abuse case

The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of luring teenage girls to be sexually maltreated by the United States-based financier and convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Some media reports also suggest Maxwell as Epstein's girlfriend and some suggest her as his fiancee. According to the attorneys who have been fighting the case for decades revealed Maxwell used to lure teenage girls for his alleged boyfriend, Epstein. Somehow, the case gained media attention which resulted in a wide range of protests from all walks of life. So, let's uncover all the details of the high-profile case.

Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?

Born in 1961, Ghislaine Maxwell is the ninth and youngest child of Elisabeth-- a French-born scholar, and Robert Maxwell, a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor. She was born nearly 48 hours before her 15-year-old brother met a fatal accident. According to New York Times, Maxwell had a close relationship with her father and was widely credited with being her father's favourite.

After graduating from Oxford University, Maxwell was a prominent member of the London social scene in the 1980s. Later, she founded a women's club named after the original Kit-Cat Club. In 1991, her father died of mysterious circumstances. At that time some media reports published he died of cardiac arrest while some blamed he died of drowning. Later, it was found her father to have committed massive pension fraud against his employees.

After her father died in 1991, she left for America. "She was probably left with no money," CNN reported, while several speculated she secured income from a secret trust. After that, she was first seen in public during a wedding event of the then US President Bill Clinton. Subsequently, she was seen in 2000 with Donald Trump and his future wife, Melania Trump, alongside Epstein.  Though it is difficult to prove when Maxwell first met the American financier. However, Epstein's former business partner told New York Times that she had a romantic relationship with Epstein for several years in the early 1990s and remained closely associated with him for more than 25 years until his death in 2019.

Ghislaine Maxwell's links with Donald Trump

According to media reports, it was then she delivered teenage girls to her boyfriend. Apart from arranging girls for her boyfriend, she had also arranged girls for Epstein close aides such as Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Prince Andrew. A photograph of Prince also went viral with a teenage girl wherein Maxwell could be seen in the background. However, he categorically denied having any sexual relationship with the girl he was photographed. Somehow, a teenage girl who was sexually abused by Maxwell fiancee busted all the offences. It was alleged Maxwell arranged teenage girls as young as 14, for her fiancee. The victim argued that she was forced for massage and sometimes forced for sexual favours. 

Subsequently, in 2005, police began investigating Epstein after a parent complained that he had sexually abused her 14-year-old daughter. Later it was unearthed that he had exploited at least 36 minor girls. In 2008, he was convicted guilty and was awarded a jail term of 13 months. He was arrested again in 2019 for trafficking minors for sexual abuse. Later, he was committed suicide in the prison cell in the same year. As he died, people started demanding rigorous punishment for Maxwell. Finally, on December 29, Wednesday, the court convicted Maxwell of luring teenage girls for sexual favours.

(With inputs from AP)

(Image: AP)