Ghislaine Maxwell guilty in sex-trafficking case

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday on sex-trafficking charges.

Maxwell was found guilty on five of six counts, and each charge carries a prison term of between five and 40 years in prison. It took a New York jury five days of deliberation before reaching the verdict.

Maxwell, 60, had been accused of recruiting girls, some as young as 14, to come to the homes of millionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein, where he then sexually abused them. The incidents took place in the 1990s and early 2000s, at Epstein's properties in New York, Florida, and New Mexico.

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Epstein died by suicide more than two years ago while in jail awaiting trial, and Maxwell's attorneys argued that their client was taking the fall because Epstein was dead. Maxwell was Epstein's longtime companion, and four women testified in the trial that when they were teenagers, Maxwell showered them with gifts and money to gain their trust, promising that Epstein could use his wealth to help them in life. Eventually, Maxwell encouraged them to give Epstein massages, which became sexual, and praised them once they were finished. Read more at The Associated Press.