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Ghislaine Maxwell Found Guilty

(360 Posts)
Calistemon Wed 29-Dec-21 22:21:34

Maxwell has been found guilty on five out of six counts of recruiting underage girls to be sexually abused by Jeffrey Epstein.

news.sky.com/story/ghislaine-maxwell-found-guilty-of-sex-trafficking-charges-12501445

Maxwell also faces two perjury charges, which defence lawyers successfully argued should be tried separately.

I wondered if she might get off the charges, as money and power are behind her, but justice has prevailed.

MissAdventure Fri 31-Dec-21 10:35:25

All the fuss that was kicked up about jimmy Savile's victims seems to have died down.
Everyone thought that those girls were after money.
The bbc programme about him stated he was responsible for over 500 incidents.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 10:35:17

Blondiescot

Absolutely, VioletSky. It's the same as questioning why a victim of domestic abuse didn't leave the relationship the first time the abuse took place.

Totally different Blondiescot. A victim of domestic abuse may be unable to leave home for a number of reasons. I can testify to that from personal experience.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 10:33:30

VioletSky

MissAdventure

Which is why a lot of female victims don't report crime.

This

Imagine a family member coming to someone with those views and their response was to question their actions.

It happens all the time. I won't repeat what my mother said when I told her and I was a small child when it happened to me but it prevented me from seeking support until much later in life.

A child is a child. 14 or 4.

You cannot equate your experience as a four year old to the experiences of teenage girls VS.

Calistemon Fri 31-Dec-21 10:32:28

^groomed^

Yes. It's a form of brainwashing on susceptible teenagers.

VioletSky Fri 31-Dec-21 10:31:45

Trial by social media, where some verdicts will follow these girls their whole lives

trisher Fri 31-Dec-21 10:30:53

We have laws to protect children. A 14 year old is easily persuaded by what seems to be a caring and considerate woman and a rich good looking man that what they are asking her to do is normal (and fun). It is only much later that the victim realises she has been groomed and abused. The choice you make at 14 is not always the wisest one.
It would help if people on this thread stopped referring to "women" who were involved they were "girls" or "children?"

Calistemon Fri 31-Dec-21 10:30:09

MissAdventure

Which is why a lot of female victims don't report crime.

Absolutely

Calistemon Fri 31-Dec-21 10:29:22

I'm not a lawyer but the actions of the victims is not the issue - surely the crime was procuring under-age girls in the first place.

Me neither but I know enough about the CJS to know that it has been proved that crimes against underage girls were committed and one of the perpetrators found guilty.

I'm astonished and dismayed that some are still putting these girls, now survivors, on trial.

Blondiescot Fri 31-Dec-21 10:19:58

Absolutely, VioletSky. It's the same as questioning why a victim of domestic abuse didn't leave the relationship the first time the abuse took place.

VioletSky Fri 31-Dec-21 10:16:29

MissAdventure

Which is why a lot of female victims don't report crime.

This

Imagine a family member coming to someone with those views and their response was to question their actions.

It happens all the time. I won't repeat what my mother said when I told her and I was a small child when it happened to me but it prevented me from seeking support until much later in life.

A child is a child. 14 or 4.

Granniesunite Fri 31-Dec-21 10:16:03

Miss A. Totally agree and these guys are laughing all the way to their next victim.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 10:15:11

And I'm not sure all of these would had $$$$ not been given them in the first place, with the prospect of yet more in 'compensation'.

MissAdventure Fri 31-Dec-21 10:09:26

Which is why a lot of female victims don't report crime.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 10:08:01

Riverwalk

Germanshepherdsmum

I didn’t hear any evidence of girls introduced by GM to Epstein and his friends being unable to prevent the initial experience being repeated. They were not imprisoned, none gave any evidence of being forcibly held down, threats or coercion to my knowledge or the media would have made much of it. So why did they keep going back for more if it was all so terrible?

So why did they keep going back for more if it was all so terrible?

I'm not a lawyer but the actions of the victims is not the issue - surely the crime was procuring under-age girls in the first place.

Even if none of them ever returned after the first time, the crime was commited.

I'm a retired lawyer. It's a line of questioning I would have pursued.

Anniebach Fri 31-Dec-21 10:00:18

I didn’t know there were girls in this country involved, why bring Virginia Guiffrie from America

VioletSky Fri 31-Dec-21 09:55:42

It was illegal, the court has rules it so. That should be enough really. If we want to protect young women in future we cannot question young women who are not old enough to make informed choices... Which is why the law is there.

Riverwalk Fri 31-Dec-21 09:55:28

Germanshepherdsmum

I didn’t hear any evidence of girls introduced by GM to Epstein and his friends being unable to prevent the initial experience being repeated. They were not imprisoned, none gave any evidence of being forcibly held down, threats or coercion to my knowledge or the media would have made much of it. So why did they keep going back for more if it was all so terrible?

So why did they keep going back for more if it was all so terrible?

I'm not a lawyer but the actions of the victims is not the issue - surely the crime was procuring under-age girls in the first place.

Even if none of them ever returned after the first time, the crime was commited.

Germanshepherdsmum Fri 31-Dec-21 09:46:07

I didn’t hear any evidence of girls introduced by GM to Epstein and his friends being unable to prevent the initial experience being repeated. They were not imprisoned, none gave any evidence of being forcibly held down, threats or coercion to my knowledge or the media would have made much of it. So why did they keep going back for more if it was all so terrible?

Anniebach Thu 30-Dec-21 21:26:44

It’s wrong to speak of controlling husbands ?

VioletSky Thu 30-Dec-21 21:23:31

I think it's a shame that question awas asked and that it might influence thinking against a victim. The damage that has been done by those sort of questions is catastrophic. The Me Too movement should have us listening.

Anniebach Thu 30-Dec-21 21:23:03

Are you speaking of a girl trapped in a marriage by a controlling husband ?

MissAdventure Thu 30-Dec-21 21:22:46

Reading this thread, I have just realised I sailed close to the edge of a coercive situation myself, when I was 19.
So, not a child, certainly no innocent, no abusive background, but a very similar situation.

Granniesunite Thu 30-Dec-21 21:16:57

It’s just as well then Anniebach that there are others who can and who understand.

To be clear in my last post the abuse I referred to being new is coercive control.

Anniebach Thu 30-Dec-21 21:09:53

I just cannot compare a 14 year old with a 17 year old ,

Granniesunite Thu 30-Dec-21 20:55:09

“and it was not possible to escape”

I know someone whose prison was totally invisible to the outside world.
It was not possible for her to escape for many years but escape she did and to this day suffers because she did.

Abuse of power or position is heinous but it’s “new” in the eyes of the law. Every step forward to raise its ugly hold on its victims is a step in the right direction.