Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted Wednesday of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein.
The verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring sordid accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14, told by four women who described being abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s palatial homes in Florida, New York and New Mexico.
Developing…
Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of five of six counts.
More from a Reuters dispatch:
The judge in British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex abuse trial said the jury would deliberate for at least one hour longer than usual if needed on Tuesday due to an “astronomical spike” in COVID-19 cases in the New York area.
“We now face a high and escalating risk that jurors and/or trial participants may need to quarantine,” U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan told prosecutors and defense attorneys outside the presence of the jury, which had begun deliberating again on Tuesday morning
Public shaming of Covid rule breakers in China..
Police in Jingxi city paraded alleged violators of Covid rules through the streets
The four suspects had to carry placards displaying their photos and names
China banned such public shaming and parading of criminal suspects in 2010
But the practice has resurfaced amid extremely strict lockdown controls
It comes as 13 million in China were barred from going outside, even for food