The US attorney’s office described Maxwell's crimes as 'one of the worst imaginable'
Ghislaine Maxwell's family is set to launch an appeal after she was
found guilty of recruiting and trafficking young girls to be sexually abused by the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell, 60, was on Wednesday found guilty on five of the six counts she faced - including the most serious charge, that of sex trafficking a minor.
The verdict, reached after five days of deliberation, means the British socialite could spend the rest of her life behind bars.
Shortly after the verdict, Maxwell's legal team said they were already working on an appeal. "We firmly believe in Ghislaine's innocence," her lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, told reporters.
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Maxwell's family also put out a statement saying they "firmly believe" in her innocence.
"We have already started the appeal tonight and we believe she will ultimately be vindicated."
The verdict followed a month-long trial that featured testimony from four women who described being abused by Epstein between 1994 and 2004.
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Maxwell was found guilty of:
- sex trafficking of a minor
- transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors
- conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.
She was found not guilty on a charge of enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.
A statement from the US attorney’s office described Maxwell's crime as "one of the worst imaginable."
"The road to justice has been far too long but today, justice has been done," said US attorney Damian Williams.
"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."
