Breaking: Jury finds Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of sex trafficking a minor

A Manhattan federal court jury found 60-year-old Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of several charges relating to sex trafficking of a minor on Wednesday after five full days of deliberation.

Maxwell was the girlfriend of convicted pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, and prosecutors were able to convince a jury that she aided the billionaire in locating his teenage victims from 1994 to about 2004. She was accused of recruiting and grooming the girls for Epstein, with most of the evidence consisting of testimony from four victims.

She was convicted of 5 out of 6 charges of luring teenage girls for sexual abuse, some as young as 14 years old. Maxwell was not convicted of one charge of enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts.

Attorneys for Maxwell tried to argue that she was also a victim of Epstein's rather than an accomplice to his crimes.

Epstein died under mysterious circumstances in 2019 when he was found in his cell in Manhattan after apparently committing suicide. He was awaiting trial for sex trafficking when he died. Guards were supposed to have checked in on him every 30 minutes, but they neglected to do so due to insufficient staffing at the prison.

"The road to justice has been far too long. But, today, justice has been done," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a statement about the verdict.

"I want to commend the bravery of the girls — now grown women — who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom," he added. "Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today's result, possible."

Maxwell faces as many as 65 years in prison upon her sentencingnext year.

Here's more about the guilty verdict against Maxwell:

Ghislaine Maxwell convicted in Epstein sex abuse casewww.youtube.com