FBI Arrests Billionaire Predator Jeffrey Epstein’s Confidante Ghislaine Maxwell

Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite with links to the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, was taken into custody in New Hampshire on Thursday morning, law enforcement officials said.

The FBI arrested Maxwell, 58, on criminal charges related to Epstein’s alleged sex-trafficking operation, The New York Times reported.

According to an indictment that has been made public, authorities claim Maxwell “assisted, facilitated and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse” females as young as 14.

Epstein was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges when he hanged himself in a New York City federal detention center last August. While his cause of death was officially ruled a suicide, questions remain, and some believe the 66-year-old financier may have been murdered.

While Maxwell has repeatedly denied allegations of wrongdoing, Jennifer Araoz, who accused Epstein of raping her when she was 15, said in a statement the news of the arrest comes as a huge relief.

“Now that the ring has been taken down, I know that I can’t be hurt anymore,” she said. “Day after day, I have waited for the news that Maxwell would be arrested and held accountable for her actions. Her arrest is a step in that direction, and it truly means that the justice system didn’t forget about us.”