Accused child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is prepared to take the stand at her highly anticipated upcoming trial in order “to save her own life,” according to reports.
Maxwell, 59, faces life in prison if convicted of procuring underage girls as young as 14 years old for her longtime friend, Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted pedophile, between 1994 and 2004.
Sources close to the disgraced British socialite told The Daily Mail that she will take the stand to defend herself if necessary after the prosecution rests its case. Defendants in sexual abuse cases typically do not testify, instead opting to let the prosecution prove its case.
“She has never shied away from the truth and she is looking forward to her day in court,” a source told The Daily Mail.
“Ghislaine is not over-confident by any means but she knows she is telling the truth,” the source told the paper.
“She has no fear about getting in the witness box.”
Federal prosecutors have not offered Maxwell a plea deal. Her trial will begin with opening arguments on Monday after more than a year of preparation from the prosecution and defense.
She told the Daily Mail on Saturday “I am innocent.”
Maxwell has remained in a Brooklyn federal lockup since she was arrested in 2020 by federal authorities at the New Hampshire mansion that she shared with her tech mogul husband, Scott Borgersen, whom she secretly wed in 2016.
Maxwell’s family maintains that she is innocent and was unaware of the crimes Epstein committed, despite claims that she scouted out and groomed young girls to be abused by the billionaire.
Her brother, Ian, believes she will be exonerated.
“[Epstein] was clearly a master manipulator who has ruined many lives and continues to do so long after his death,” Ian told The Post. “This makes his crimes particularly reprehensible.”
Epstein died by an apparent suicide in a Manhattan prison while awaiting his trial on sex-trafficking charges in 2019.
“The idea that [Ghislaine] would be groomed to carry out these odious acts, I just can’t conceive of it,” Ian said.
