By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Opening statements in the Ghislaine Maxill sex abuse case will begin Monday. Prosecutors are trying to convince a juror that the British socialite groomed and recruited girls to be abused by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

U.S. Prosecutors claim that Maxwell, an ex-employe and romantic partner to Epstein, gained girls’ trust between 1994-2004 by going to movies with them, giving them gifts such as lingerie, and talking about sexual subjects, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office filing in Manhattan.

The trial comes in the wake of the #MeToo movement, which has encouraged victims of sexual abuse to speak out against powerful men like movie producer Harvey Weinstein and R&B singer R. Kelly. Maxwell’s case is unique because Maxwell is a female.

On Monday, jury selection will be completed before opening statements are made in Manhattan federal Court.

Maxwell, who is 59 years old, has pleaded no guilty to eight charges related to sex trafficking. Maxwell will also be facing two additional perjury charges. If she is convicted, she could face up to 80 year imprisonment.

Her lawyers have said that prosecutors, unable to convict Epstein, are using Maxwell as a scapegoat https://www.reuters.com/world/maxwell-challenge-accusers-seek-distance-epstein-sex-abuse-trial-2021-11-23.

In 2019, Epstein committed suicide while waiting for his trial on sexual abuse charges. Prosecutors had accused him of paying underage girls, some as young as 14, to give him erotic massages https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/epsteins-shadow-looms-over-jury-selection-maxwell-sex-crimes-trial-2021-11-04.

Her lawyers filed a filing on February 4, stating that Maxwell had been left without any fish to fry.

Prosecutors claim that Maxwell encouraged girls to massage Epstein, even though they were partially or fully nude. In certain cases Epstein and Maxwell offered to pay cash for the girls or pay travel expenses. Prosecutors claimed that Epstein often masturbated the girls or touched their genitals in the massages.

Prosecutors wrote that victims were “made to feel indebted” and thought Epstein and Maxwell were trying to assist them. Maxwell, they claimed, “was present for the sexual abuse of minor victim’s,” in some cases.

Maxwell was taken into custody in July 2020. U.S. District judge Alison Nathan denied Maxwell four bail requests, ruling that Maxwell was a flight risk. Those denials have been upheld on appeal, and she has spent the past 17 months in isolation at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where she has voiced concern about unsanitary conditions https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ghislaine-maxwell-sex-crimes-trial-highlights-conditions-brooklyn-jail-2021-11-18.

“NOT TELLING TRUTH”

Maxwell’s lawyers indicated that they would question the credibility the victims and ask why they didn’t come forward sooner. They also suggested that financial incentives exist for them to exaggerate or lie.

Maxwell’s lawyers stated in court papers that “anyone who accuses Ms. Maxwell of participating in sex violence or sex trading is lying”

According to separate filings, one of the women was motivated by a desire for money.

Elizabeth Loftus (a prominent psychologist who was a defense expert in both the Harvey Weinstein rape case and Robert Durst murder trial) will testify as to how “false memories” can be created.

Some legal experts say the strategy is risky https://www.reuters.com/world/maxwell-challenge-accusers-seek-distance-epstein-sex-abuse-trial-2021-11-23 in the post #MeToo era, and that prosecutors would not have charged Maxwell unless they were confident the accusers’ testimonies would withstand scrutiny.

Zachary Margulis Ohnuma is a New York lawyer who practices in the defense of victims in sex-crimes cases.