Ghislaine Maxwell Allegedly Groomed Girls as Young as 14 to Be Abused by Epstein

The alleged grooming took between around 2001 and 2004, during which time Maxwell would attempt to “normalize inappropriate and abusive
conduct”—by discussing sexual topics with her, undressing in front of her, and being around her while she was undressed—so that the 14-year-old could later provide Epstein with nude massages that involved “multiple sex acts.” Maxwell is also said to have encouraged the minor to help her recruit other young girls for the same purposes.

“In response, Minor Victim-4 brought multiple females, including girls under the age of 18, to provide sexualized massages for Epstein at the Palm Beach Residence,” the indictment reads. “On such occasions, both Minor Victim-4 and the girl she brought were paid hundreds of dollars in cash.”

As the Guardian notes, the new allegations expand the timeframe in which Maxwell is believed to have acted as Epstein’s accomplice and co-abuser, previously thought to be a period from 1994 to 1997. Monday’s court filing suggests this period lasted an entire decade, up until at least 2004, when she was grooming her and Epstein’s 14-year-old victim.

Maxwell was arrested by the FBI in July, on charges of helping Epstein abuse girls and, in some cases, perpetrating sexual abuse herself. Immediately following her arrest, a 32-year-old named Jennifer Araoz came forward with her account of being abused and raped by Epstein when she was just 15.

In the months since, more information has slowly emerged about Epstein and Maxwell’s victims, each detail seemingly more harrowing than the last, if such a thing were possible to measure. As we continue to learn more about the precise nature of the abuse, we also get a better sense of exactly how Maxwell used the assumption of women as inherently benevolent and trustworthy—as well as her social standing—to conduct Epstein’s vast trafficking scheme.

“Women are capable of perpetrating abuse. Women are capable of perpetrating abuse,” Tracy Clark-Flory wrote for Jezebel in 2019, just after accusations against Maxwell began to surface. “What an insanely obvious statement, and yet it is apparently necessary to keep saying, even amid the evidence of it.”