Ghislaine Maxwell gets 20-year sentence in Epstein sex abuse case

FILE - Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, during a news conference in New York, on July 2, 2020. Maxwell faces the likelihood of years in prison when she is sentenced for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls. The sentencing hearing, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in New York will be the culmination of a prosecution that detailed how Epstein and Maxwell flaunted their riches and associations with prominent people to groom vulnerable girls and then exploit them. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)(AP)

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for helping the wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

Her hearing in New York was the culmination of a prosecution that detailed how Epstein and Maxwell flaunted their riches and associations with prominent people to groom vulnerable girls and then exploit them.

Epstein died in prison in 2019 after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges.

Maxwell denies abusing anyone.

Her lawyers have asked the judge to sentence her to no more than five years in prison. According to CNN, Maxwell will be sentenced on only three of the five counts she was convicted of because the judge said two of the conspiracy charges were repetitive.

Prosecutors said she deserves at least 30 years behind bars.