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Ghislaine Maxwell gets sentencing date despite juror's sex abuse revelations
15 January 2022, 08:21
Ghislaine Maxwell has been given a date for her sentencing despite a juror’s admission about being sexually abused as a child.
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The revelation threw speculation on whether the British socialite’s lawyers could push for a mistrial.
He has said that he told other jurors during deliberations over Maxwell’s charges that he was sexually abused as a child, and used what he learned about abuse to persuade others to convict her.
Maxwell’s defence lawyers said the remarks warrant a fresh trial. The 60-year-old was convicted of child sex trafficking and conspiracy over the recruitment of teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.
Judge Alison Nathan, who has set a date of June 28 for sentencing, will rule on what will happen as a result of the juror’s revelations in the future.
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Read more: Ghislaine Maxwell: The events that led to her trial, as she now faces decades behind bars
Maxwell was convicted after prosecutors said she recruited and groomed teenage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
She was once in a relationship with him and later worked for him at five residences that included a New York City mansion and a Palm Beach estate in Florida.
Maxwell’s lawyers had said she was made a scapegoat after Epstein took his own life in prison in 2019 as he faced a trial over sex trafficking charges.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have said they will drop perjury charged against Maxwell if she gets sentenced on schedule.