Ghislaine Maxwell (born December 25, 1961, Maisons-Laffitte, France) is a former British and American socialite who was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking of underage girls for the American financier Jeffrey Epstein. According to prosecutors, Maxwell and her hired assistants enticed hundreds of girls to visit Epstein’s homes and nearby locations in New York City, Florida, New Mexico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Maxwell’s own residence in London. There they were groomed for sex acts with Epstein and other individuals. In 2019, two years before Maxwell’s conviction, Epstein was arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking of underage girls. While awaiting trial in a Manhattan jail cell, Epstein killed himself by hanging. Maxwell, who had already left the city, was arrested in New Hampshire in 2020.
