Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty to sex trafficking charges

The British socialite is accused of helping late US financier Jeffrey Epstein recruit and sexually abuse girls

Maxwell allegedly groomed and paid a girl who, starting at age 14, gave Epstein nude massages and later engaged in sex acts with him

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Ghislaine Maxwell attends a symposium in New York in September 2013. Photo: TNS

Published: 3:46am, 24 Apr 2021Updated: 5:21am, 24 Apr 2021

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal sex trafficking charges in the US case accusing her of helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein recruit and sexually abuse girls.

Maxwell, 59, entered her plea through her lawyer before US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan. The charges had been included in an eight-count indictment unveiled on March 29.

Prosecutors have accused Maxwell of grooming and paying a girl who, starting at age 14, gave Epstein nude massages and engaged in sex acts with him from 2001 to 2004, and that the girl recruited others to offer erotic massages.

They previously had charged Maxwell with helping Epstein recruit and groom three other girls for him to sexually abuse from 1994 to 1997.

US financier Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photograph taken for a sex offender registry in March 2017. Photo: New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services via Reuters

Maxwell had pleaded not guilty to the earlier charges, which included two perjury counts.