British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, an ex-girlfriend of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested on sexual abuse charges by the FBI.
She was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire around 8:30 a.m. Thursday on charges she conspired with Epstein to sexually abuse minors, and is expected to appear in a federal court later today.
The six-count indictment in Manhattan federal court alleges that Maxwell helped Epstein groom girls as young as 14 years old, going back as far as 1994. She faces up to 35 years in prison.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “This case against Ghislaine Maxwell is the prequel to the earlier case we brought against Jeffrey Epstein,”
Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s alleged victims, said in a civil lawsuit that Maxwell recruited her into Epstein’s circle, where she claims Epstein forced her to have sex with him and friends including British royal Prince Andrew who has denied the allegations.
Epstein, a registered sex offender kept company with presidents and captains of industry, he was arrested on new federal charges of exploiting dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.
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He attempted suicide in custody in late July, and then died after another suicide attempt in early August 2019.