- Ghislaine Maxwell's mugshot from July 2020 arrest was released by US authorities
- Maxwell faced six charges including sexual exploitation of minors and perjury
- Born in France in 1961, Maxwell was a British socialite linked to Jeffrey Epstein
US authorities have released the mugshot of Ghislaine Maxwell, the convicted sex trafficker and longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein.
The photo was taken in July 2020, when Maxwell was arrested on six charges, including two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of transporting someone across state lines for sexual activity, and two counts of perjury.
The image shows Maxwell in standard police booking format, taken for official identification purposes.
All about Ghislaine Maxwell
Early life
Born in 1961 in France, she grew up in Oxford, England. Maxwell is a British socialite and longtime associate of Epstein. She studied at Balliol College in the 1980s. She worked for her father, Robert Maxwell, a media tycoon, until he died in 1991. After that, she moved to New York City and continued her life as a socialite.
How Maxwell met Epstein
Some reports state that her father introduced her to Epstein in the late 1980s while others say she met Epstein in the early 1990s at a New York party. Maxwell had a romantic relationship with Epstein in the early 1990s. She stayed closely connected to him for over 25 years until his death in 2019.
Epstein's employees said she was his top aide, describing her the “Lady of the House”. A Vanity Fair profile said Epstein referred to Maxwell as “my best friend," according to The WSJ.
Maxwell and Epstein had ties to powerful people, including US Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, Mark Zuckerberg among others.
“In particular, between in or about 1994 and in or about 1997, Maxwell was in an intimate relationship with Epstein and also was paid by Epstein to manage his various properties,” according to CNN.
Maxwell's trial and conviction
Maxwell was arrested in July 2020 and later convicted of multiple federal charges related to the sexual exploitation of minors. The trial, held in 2021, included testimony from victims and witnesses who described how Maxwell helped Epstein recruit and groom underage girls for sexual abuse.
Maxwell's trial lasted about three weeks and in December 2021, she was found guilty of child sex trafficking and was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. Her lawyers tried to argue that Epstein was the main mastermind and that Maxwell was being unfairly blamed for his crimes.
