Opening statements are expected to begin on Monday after the jury is awarded its powers.
Federal prosecutors allege the British social media site created a network of underage victims for Epstein to sexually exploit.
Maxwell was first charged in July 2020 with one count of soliciting and conspiring to entice a minor to travel to commit illegal sex acts, transporting and conspiring to transport a minor. minor with the intent to engage in criminal sex activity for allegedly grooming and recruiting underage girls between 1994 and 1997.
Maxwell has strongly denied any wrongdoing, telling the court during a recent hearing, “I did not commit any crimes.”
Maxwell allegedly helped Epstein run a sex trafficking business
Maxwell was arrested nearly a year after Epstein was arrested on charges related to allegations that he operated a sex-trafficking business from his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach from 2002 to 2005. That indictment Allegations that Epstein worked with employees and associates to recruit the girls. went to his residence and paid some of his victims to recruit other girls for him to abuse.
He is a registered sex offender convicted after he pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges in 2008.
The alleged victims testify at the trial
The four alleged victims in the case were identified in the indictment as Juvenile Victims 1 through 4.
Maxwell was present and involved in several of the abuses alleged to be by Juvenile Victim-1, court documents show. According to the indictment, that victim first met Maxwell when she was about 14 years old and was sexually abused by Epstein at his properties in New York and Florida.
Maxwell “associated” with the girl in the “sexual massage” group on Epstein, undressed in front of the girl, and was present when Young Victim-1 undressed in front of Epstein, the indictment said.
The 2-year-old victim traveled to New Mexico in 1996, where Epstein allegedly abused her on his ranch.
Maxwell allegedly groomed Child Victim-2, giving her an unintended massage while she was topless. Maxwell also encouraged Young Victim-2 to massage Epstein, according to the indictment.
Judge Alison Nathan ruled before the trial that jurors would be instructed that they could not convict Maxwell based on testimony regarding sexual conduct between Epstein and a woman identified in the indictment. status as Juvenile Victim-3 because she was 17 years old at the time and thus. age of consent in the relevant jurisdictions.
Her testimony as a witness will remain relevant to the overall conspiracy allegedly to entice a minor to engage in illegal sexual conduct.
Allegedly befriending and getting to know her, Maxwell introduced the young girl to Epstein in London when she was just 17 years old, according to the indictment.
Maxwell encouraged her to perform sexual massages during her alleged abuse by Epstein in 1994 and 1995.
Victims aged 4 met Maxwell for the first time when she was recruited around the age of 14 to give Epstein an aphrodisiac massage at his Palm Beach mansion. Between 2001 and 2004, Child Victim-4 was paid hundreds of dollars in cash for her interactions with Epstein during his sexual abuse of her, according to the indictment.
The victim is also alleged to have recruited other young women to provide Epstein sex massages at the request of him and Maxwell. Sometimes, Maxwell called victims from New York to schedule a massage for Epstein when he returned to Florida.
Maxwell also sent gifts from New York, including underwear, to the victim’s home in Florida, the indictment said.
What we can see in court
The trial, which is expected to last about six weeks, will take place over the upcoming holidays, meaning Maxwell will likely celebrate his 60th birthday in federal prison on Christmas Day.
Jurors will find an unchained Maxwell sitting at the defense desk in plain clothes and wearing a surgical mask – a requirement for all in court.
The alleged victims and several other witnesses will testify under their pseudonyms or names, although the jury will be told their identities, according to court records.
The jury can see Maxwell’s ‘little black book’
According to court documents, a former employee at Epstein’s Palm Beach mansion will testify about an address book containing contact information for alleged minor victims and celebrities that Epstein and Maxwell link.
At this point, it remains unclear whether jurors will be able to see a copy of the book during the trial.
Court records say the employee will testify that the copy matches her recollection of a bound and sewn, typed book containing contact information for Maxwell’s family members and alleged victims in this case.
Judge Nathan said in her final pre-trial hearing that she will hear testimony from an unnamed employee about the book before she makes a ruling on whether jurors can see any which book is in it or not.
Prosecutors say the book belonging to Maxwell and its copies and another by Epstein were placed around Epstein’s home for convenience, according to home manuals obtained through a search warrant.
Expert witnesses are expected to testify about grooming for sexual abuse
Prosecutors allege Maxwell had a habit of grooming Epstein’s victims, putting them at ease by taking them on outings like shopping, going to the movies, and asking about their personal lives.
A child sex abuse expert, Dr Lisa Rocchio, is expected to testify against the prosecution of defrauding minors into sexual abuse, a key concept in the government’s argument. government about the charges against Maxwell in the indictment.
Judge Nathan making the defense may also call expert witnesses to counter the prosecution’s expected expert testimony.
Dr Park Dietz is expected to downplay grooming in the defense’s testimony, saying grooming could simply be acts of kindness that are not inherently linked to sexual abuse, according to a move. cure.
Dr Elizabeth Loftus is also expected to testify in the defense of memory distortions and the tendency of victims to remember core information but to forget or misremember peripheral details surrounding a traumatic event. , according to a move in defense.
Maxwell faces two additional charges of perjury related to allegations that she lied during the 2016 civil demotion, which is expected to be handled in a separate trial.
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