The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell begins, accused of capturing girls for the pedophile tycoon Jeffrey Epstein

By Tom Winter, Sarah Fitzpatrick and Corky Siemaszko -

The long-awaited trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the wealthy British heiress accused in the United States of capturing teenagers for the sexually abusing mogul Jeffrey Epstein, begins this Monday and can be compared to an iceberg: many of the unanswered questions about her alleged company will remain hidden for now.

Maxwell, a British celebrity who insists on his innocence, is unlikely to face questions about his alleged help to Epstein in arranging "dates" with women over 18 for a constellation of rich and powerful men.

[Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's aide accused of sexual abuse, now also faces child trafficking charges]

Nor is she likely to be questioned about the allegations of an alleged victim who claimed in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell coaxed her into taking her to Prince Andrew of England when she was 17 years old.

He has denied the allegations. 

Nor is it likely that the prosecution will be allowed to delve too deeply into the social and business relationships of Epstein, a billionaire financier, with other big names like former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, and Ohio billionaire Leslie Wexner.

Instead, Federal Judge Alison Nathan of the Southern District of New York has limited the reach of federal prosecutors by focusing the case against the celebrity-turned-suspect on allegations that she helped Epstein capture and abuse four underage girls. old, mainly in the 1990s.

"This is going to be a small portion of what happened," said civil attorney Dan Kaiser, who represents several alleged Epstein victims but none involved in this trial.

“This is a network that caught dozens and dozens and dozens of girls.

And Maxwell was a well-rounded actress.

You could say she was Epstein's chief operating officer, ”he said.

This Monday begins the opening statements of a trial that is expected to last six weeks.

And those four grown women will take the stand and testify against Maxwell, according to prosecutors. 

[The disastrous interview in which Prince Andrew tries to explain his friendship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein]

Epstein committed suicide at age 66 in a Manhattan jail in August 2019, when he had barely been behind bars for a month and awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

"Maxwell was the center of that sex trafficking ring," Epstein's alleged victim, Jennifer Araoz, told our sister network NBC News after Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 at her luxurious hideaway in Bedford, New Hampshire.

NBC News does not generally identify rape victims, but Araoz did go public with an interview in July 2019 during which she said she was 15 years old when Epstein raped her.

She has sued Maxwell alleging that she and other employees of the billionaire “conspired with each other to make possible and otherwise facilitate the sexual abuse and rape of the plaintiff.” Maxwell has repeatedly denied the allegations against her.

Jeffrey Epstein: His accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is transferred to a NY prison

July 6, 202000: 42

Araoz is not one of the women expected to testify against Maxwell, all of whom will be identified at trial by initials alone.

It is represented by Kaiser.

[A millionaire falls from grace and his employees tell the true story of their 'island of pedophilia']

Maxwell's older brother, Ian, has called his sister a "scapegoat" and that federal investigators targeted her only after Epstein hanged himself.

“They lost it and that's why there has to be someone to pay the price.

There has to be a scapegoat.

Ghislaine is paying that price and is paying it every day, ”he stated in an interview with CBS News in November.

This is not true, according to prosecutors.

"Maxwell played a pivotal role in helping Epstein identify, befriend and groom underage victims to abuse them," then-acting federal prosecutor Audrey Strauss told reporters after Maxwell's arrest.

"In some cases, Maxwell participated in the abuses herself," he added.

Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a press conference in New York, July 2, 2020.John Minchillo / AP

In this trial, Maxwell faces six of eight criminal charges linked to alleged efforts to entice minors to travel and engage in illegal sexual acts, conspiracy to transport minors with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and conspiracy of sex trafficking.

[The suicide of Jeffrey Epstein: more questions than answers]

If convicted on all charges, the 59-year-old Maxwell, who is being held without bond in a Brooklyn jail, could face years in prison.

In a second 24-page indictment, prosecutors allege that between 1994 and 2004, Maxwell “aided, facilitated, and contributed” to Epstein abusing underage girls by recruiting, grooming, and ultimately sexually abusing the victims.

The victims were up to 14 years old when she and Epstein sexually abused them, prosecutors say.

Both Epstein and Maxwell knew that some of the victims were minors, according to prosecutors.

And as part of his alleged plot, prosecutors say, Maxwell worked with Epstein to lure underage victims to travel to his luxury residences around the world.

The abuses allegedly occurred at Epstein's luxurious residences in Palm Beach, Florida, Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Upper East Side of Manhattan, according to prosecutors.

[Authorities deny parole to Ghislaine Maxwell, ex-partner of Jeffrey Epstein]

The youngest daughter of British press baron Robert Maxwell, who drowned in 1991, Maxwell also faces two counts of perjury linked to a statement in a civil case in 2016. The prosecution alleges that when Maxwell was questioned about her involvement in the alleged abuse and trafficking, lied under oath.

But Nathan has separated those perjury charges from this trial.

Maxwell was arrested a year after Epstein was trapped in a New Jersey airport after returning from Paris on a private jet.

According to a government motion opposing Maxwell's request to be released on bail, her arrest had a bit of drama.

A controversial photo links accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein with Prince Andrew of England, according to a British newspaper

July 7, 202000: 36

After FBI agents forced the door to their New Hampshire home and then directed their private security guards to open the front door, agents allegedly saw Maxwell trying to flee.

[Prince Andrew is not cooperating in the Epstein investigation as he promised to do]

"Officers saw the defendant ignore the prompt to open the door and instead try to flee to another room in the house, quickly closing a door behind her," according to court documents.

Officers forced open the door and eventually found Maxwell inside the home, according to court records.

Her lawyers argued in court documents that she was being held to protect herself and her family members from "relentless and intrusive media coverage."

In statements in a civil case, Epstein's former masseurs, employees and associates have painted a portrait of Maxwell as the primary facilitator of a serial sexual predator. 

Epstein's alleged victim, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, stated in a September 2019

interview

that Maxwell lured her into the financier's network.

[Affidavits come to light from Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's assistant accused of sexual abuse.

This is what he said]

At the time, Giuffre said that she was working as a locker room assistant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago complex and was coincidentally reading a book on massage therapy when she was “approached by this beautiful, well-spoken, well-mannered woman with an accent. English and correct, ”he said.

"And he tells me that it is very funny that you are reading a book about that, because I know an older man who is looking for a traveling masseuse," Giuffre recalled.

“It is super rich.

It flies everywhere, ”he added.

But by the end of her first visit to Epstein's Palm Beach mansion, Maxwell had manipulated her into having sex with her boss.

And soon, Giuffre said, she found herself being trafficked by Maxwell and Epstein to rich and powerful men like Andrew.

Whatever the outcome of the trial, the fact that Epstein is gone and Maxwell has been tried is already a comfort to some of his accusers.

"Now that the ring has been dismantled, I know that they can no longer harm me," said Araoz.