British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell,
an ex-girlfriend of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, is facing
charges in the US after being arrested by the FBI.
She is accused of assisting Epstein's abuse of minors by helping to recruit and groom victims known to be underage.
She was reportedly arrested in New Hampshire and is due in federal court later on Thursday.
Ms Maxwell has previously denied any involvement in or knowledge of Epstein's alleged sexual misconduct.
Epstein died in prison on 10 August as he awaited, without the chance of bail, his trial on sex trafficking charges.
He
was arrested last year in New York following allegations that he was
running a network of underage girls - some as young as 14 - for sex. His
death was determined to be suicide.
she is charged with:
- Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
She
is accused of grooming multiple minor girls to engage in sex acts with
Epstein. She allegedly attempted to befriend them by asking about their
lives and families and then she and Epstein built the friendships by
taking minor victims to the cinema or shopping.
Having built a
rapport, Ms Maxwell would "try to normalise sexual abuse for a minor
victim by... discussing sexual topics, undressing in front of the
victim, being present when a minor victim was undressed, and/or being
present for sex acts involving the minor victim and Epstein".