‘Maxwell is taking fall for Epstein’

New York: A New York City jury has heard four women detail accusations that they were teens when they became victims of a sex-abuse scheme devised by Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Starting Thursday, the British socialite’s attorneys are expected to make their case that Maxwell isn’t the one to blame.

Maxwell’s trial will resume with the defence calling its own witnesses in federal court in Manhattan. The government’s case lasted only two weeks and the defence case could last just two days. Both sides streamlined their witness lists without revealing why, making the trial end well short of an original six-week estimate.

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges she acted as Epstein’s chief enabler, recruiting and grooming young girls for him. – AP