One of the jurors that helped convict Ghislaine Maxiwell for sex trafficking was quoted Tuesday as saying that Maxwell ‘s failure to tell the jury he was abused in childhood was “one the greatest mistakes I’ve made in my entire life.”
The juror identified only as No. 50 during the hearing said that he didn’t lie to get on the jury. 50 answered when U.S. District judge Alison Nathan for Southern District of New York asked him questions about the reasons he hadn’t disclosed the abuse in a questionnaire that he completed during the jury selection process.
He said, “If I could go back and went slower, I would.”
Maxwell’s lawyers, who were present in Manhattan’s courtroom, have been held behind bars while they await sentencing. They stated that they would not have allowed Maxwell to serve as a juror and that the verdict should be overturned.
Nathan gave both parties until March 15th to file briefs regarding whether or not the verdict should be rescinded.
After Jeffrey Epstein’s confidant was convicted of the crime in December, and after the juror revealed that he had been sexually abused in his youth, questions were raised about the impartiality of the juror.
After some doubts about the credibility witnesses Carolyn and Jane, the jury member Scotty David said that he had told others about his experiences during interviews with British media.
These are pseudonyms used by two of the four women who testified Maxwell groomed them to have sex with Epstein as teenagers.
“When I shared it, they were able sort of come around, they were able… to come around the memory aspect of sexual abuse,” he stated in interviews with Reuters, The Independent.
Nathan was not able to prosecute the juror who only agreed to appear before Nathan. However, Nathan is scathing about the juror for failing to answer question 48, which asked potential panelists whether they, a friend, or a family member, had ever been sexually harassed.
Jurors ruled that he should have revealed that he had been abused by his stepbrother as a child when he turned 9 and 10. He claimed he did not tell anyone until high school, when he told his mom who then contacted police. However, no charges were ever filed.
