Convicted: Was Ghislaine Maxwell a criminal when she was younger?
Content Warning: This article contains discussions of sexual abuse, including the sexual abuse of minors, and sex trafficking. The case is over – or is it? On December 29th, 2021, Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of five counts of sex trafficking charges, including one involving a minor in sex trafficking. This means she will be in prison for at least twenty years, and the perjury counts were ultimately dismissed after the conviction stood. Appeals reached finality when the Supreme Court declined review in October 2025. This is a victory for the victims. But was Maxwell always a criminal? What acts did Ghislaine Maxwell commit when she was younger? And how do we move forward after these horrendous acts? Let’s go over this woman’s history, talk about the conviction, see her past acts, and discuss how to continue on.
Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?
Ghislaine Maxwell was born in France in 1961 and raised in Oxford. She attended Balliol College and moved through the 1980s London social scene, where she founded the Kit-Cat Club and served as a director of Oxford United while maintaining family publishing ties. After her father’s 1991 death, she moved to the United States and became more deeply involved with Jeffrey Epstein. The two were romantic partners and close associates for over twenty years. After Epstein served jail time for the prostitution of a minor in the late 2000s, she began to distance herself from him. This led to her relationship with Ted Waitt, then Scott Borgerson, though she is now serving a twenty-year federal sentence rather than living a quiet married life. Now that we know who she is, what exactly is the conviction about? And what does this have to do with Ghislaine Maxwell’s younger days?
Ghislaine Maxwell’s recent conviction
In mid-2020, Maxwell was arrested by the FBI and charged with six criminal counts. These consisted of enticing and sex trafficking minors, along with lying under oath. All in all, Maxwell was accused of knowingly assisting with grooming young girls for Epstein, over the course of a decade. She pled not guilty, and charges were split into two cases, with the perjury counts later dismissed once the trafficking conviction stood. The trial began in late November of 2021. Four women testified against Maxwell, giving their accounts of being abused by Epstein, and Maxwell’s involvement in those activities. She was painted as a central figure of their abuse, not a bystander, but one who was actively involved in these wrongs. A month later, she was convicted. Maxwell’s lawyers tried to appeal the verdict, denying her involvement. However, we find the words of Alison Moe, the Assistant U.S. Attorney, to be the most damning summary of this case: “Ghislaine Maxwell made her own choices. She committed crimes hand in hand with Jeffrey Epstein. She was a grown woman who knew exactly what she was doing.” She was sentenced in June 2022 to twenty years plus supervised release and a fine. Appeals were exhausted when the Supreme Court declined review in October 2025. So what did Ghislaine Maxwell’s younger self actually do? Let’s take a look.
Ghislaine Maxwell’s younger days of crime
According to the witness testimonies in the case, Maxwell was intertwined with Epstein’s activities. She would pay the victims after they pleased Epstein, discuss sexual topics with them, grope them, and much more. If it made Epstein happy, she did it, regardless of the well-being of the minors involved. One victim, Annie Farmer, said that Maxwell had a “pattern of predatory behavior,” and said that, “She has caused hurt to many more women than the few of us who had the chance to testify in the courtroom.” Victim descriptions also placed Maxwell directing grooming and activities on Little St. James, Epstein’s primary residence from 1998 to 2019. And now, justice is served. As U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said, “[T]oday, justice has been done. I want to commend the bravery of the girls – now grown women – who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom. Their courage & willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today's result, possible.”
Maxwell’s Post-Conviction Legal Efforts
After sentencing, Maxwell continued to challenge the outcome. The Supreme Court denied her appeal in October 2025, leaving the twenty-year term intact. In December 2025 she filed a pro se habeas corpus petition seeking to vacate or amend the sentence, citing new evidence from Epstein files. Additional amendments followed into 2026. In February 2026 she invoked the Fifth Amendment during a congressional deposition while still pursuing clemency. These filings keep the legal narrative open even as the original conviction remains in force.
Life at Little St. James
Little St. James, the private island long associated with Epstein, served as a central location in the allegations. Epstein maintained it as his primary residence from 1998 until 2019. Victims described Maxwell directing grooming and activities there, positioning her as an active participant rather than a peripheral figure. The island was sold in 2023 to a buyer planning resort development, closing one chapter of the property’s history while leaving the documented accounts of what occurred there unchanged.
Maxwell’s Pre-Epstein Background
Before any involvement with Epstein, Maxwell built a visible profile in Britain. Born in France in 1961 and raised in Oxford, she attended Balliol College and entered the 1980s London social scene. She founded the Kit-Cat Club, served as a director of Oxford United, and maintained family publishing connections. These early roles placed her in elite circles well before the move to the United States following her father’s 1991 death.
Current Incarceration and Clemency Efforts
Maxwell was transferred in 2025 to a minimum-security prison camp in Bryan, Texas. While housed there she filed the habeas petition seeking release and continued to plead the Fifth during congressional questioning even as clemency discussions surfaced. The island sale in 2023 and these ongoing legal steps provide additional context for how the case continues to generate developments beyond the 2021 verdict.
How do we move forward?
Various writers gave their opinions on this case, so we would like to share a few of them. First, in a piece for the Independent, Jess Phillips spoke about how sexual assault victims are often not given justice and wrote these powerful closing words: “The reality people often miss when we talk about how much victims of rape and exploitation suffer in a broken system is that it leaves rapists living all over our country, laughing at how they have got away with it, and knowing they will again. I hope today that the men in this case are laughing a little less, but the real victory comes when getting away with rape and sexual abuse is no longer the norm.” Chortle Sicha, in an article for New York Magazine, stated that “It Doesn’t Matter Why Ghislaine Maxwell Did It,” and said this frank statement, “We’re all trying to figure out how Maxwell got here. But I don’t care what happened to her. She’s not a character. . . After thinking about her too much for too long, here’s where I come down: I think she’s fucking awful, and I think she doesn’t know it. What you do matters, not why you do it.” Finally, Carli Pierson wrote in a USA TODAY piece how the trial made her relive her own trauma, discussing how sexual abuse broke her as a child, and she slowly was able to rebuild herself in adulthood. She used the opportunity to highlight Colorado’s new child sexual abuse law, and stated, “Maxwell's trial may be over. But for millions of Americans, the trauma caused by childhood sexual abuse has no expiration date.” For Phillips & Pierson, we must remember to not only believe victims but fight for legislation so that abusers cannot get away with their actions. It’s easy to try and paint these cases into a neat narrative, as Sicha points out, but these cases are messy & ugly, and “happily ever after” often isn’t possible. The island sale and Maxwell’s 2025-2026 habeas and clemency filings remind us that the legal and public record continues to evolve. Let us create a better future together, and fight for a society where abusers aren’t made into characters, and victims are believed.
