It has been many years of ongoing events, arrests, and cell time for a handful of involved celebrities and individuals that were found to be trafficking young women in the United States. The main name behind this was Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in his jail cell in 2019 to avoid further charges and questions. His former girlfriend and British well-known socialite, Ghislaine Maxwell, was also questioned to be involved. Let’s talk about what happened with her arrest and trial.
Ghislaine Maxwell dated Epstein for a period of time during the time that this trafficking was occurring, and it was believed that she helped to lure in and deliver women for their trafficking by Epstein and his other involved friends. She was arrested on those charges in 2020.
The crimes occurred between 1994 and 2004, where specifically Maxwell had been proven to have trafficked four teenaged girls during that time in assistance to Epstein. Most of her time since the July 2020 arrest was spent in a detention center, awaiting trial and judgement.
In December she was convicted regarding those four girls, and during trial her lawyers had argued for less than five years of jail time. This didn’t sit well with the judge, who stated clearly that Ghislaine’s actions were unspeakably wrong and deserved to be heard for.
After trial, Maxwell left with a 20 year prison sentence as well as an additional 750 thousand dollar fine. The judge continued on to state that Maxwell played a significant role in facilitating sexual abuse on vulnerable individuals, and thus would require a significant sentence.
Through this, the judge wanted to send a clear message that crimes of such type are and will be taken seriously, and punished harshly. Sexual abuse is dangerous and destroys lives. And even though many argued that Ghislaine had social standing and was only helping Epstein, it still was a heinous act that deemed punishment.
We’re unsure what this means for Ghislaine Maxwell’s lifetime, since the fine should be manageable for her standing but a 20 year sentence at the age of 60 can go either way in health and lifespan of an individual. Especially one that is sentenced due to sexually motivated crimes.
Overall, while it has been many years since this original trafficking occurred and many victims have been able to survive what happened with Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking ring; it’s still something that many individuals have to reckon with in trauma or in punishment for the crimes. Nobody knows if this will be a conclusion to the case, or if it’ll even help to bring victims and their families any peace. But one can only hope that it will mean more of these crimes can be ended in their tracks.