A US judge has upheld Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking conviction, despite a juror falsely declaring before the trial he had not been sexually abused.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December of helping late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.
The British socialite requested a new trial in January after one of her 12 jurors said in media interviews he had been sexually abused as a child. When asked in a pre-trial screening questionnaire whether he had been a victim of sexual abuse, the juror checked "no".US Circuit Judge Alison Nathan decided that the juror, referred to as Juror 50 in court papers, testified truthfully at a hearing last month over Maxwell's request for a new trial.
"His failure to disclose his prior sexual abuse during the jury selection process was highly unfortunate, but not deliberate," Judge Nathan wrote. "The Court further concludes that Juror 50 harboured no bias toward the Defendant and could serve as a fair and impartial juror."She faces up to 65 years in prison after being found guilty on five of the six counts she faced.
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