NEW YORK • Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and longtime associate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, was arrested yesterday on charges linked to his alleged sex-trafficking operation, according to a law enforcement official.

Maxwell was accused in an indictment of helping Epstein "recruit, groom and ultimately abuse" multiple girls, including a 14-year-old. She also faces perjury charges.

The arrest came nearly a year after Epstein was charged in a federal indictment with sexually exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls at his mansion in Manhattan; his estate in Palm Beach, Florida; and other locations.

Epstein hanged himself last August in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre in Manhattan, where he was jailed pending trial on federal charges of sex trafficking.

Maxwell, a longtime confidante and companion of Epstein's, had for years been accused of helping to procure and groom young girls for the financier, including instructing them on how to pleasure Epstein sexually.

The daughter of British publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell, 58, also helped manage Epstein's properties and introduced him to the high-profile celebrities and business executives who would form his social circle.

Lawsuits have accused Maxwell of managing a network of recruiters that Epstein relied on to entice young and often financially strapped girls and women into his scheme, promising that he would help them with their education and careers.

The federal indictment charges Maxwell with six counts: enticing minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in sexual activity, two conspiracy counts and two counts of perjury.

Prosecutors also accused Maxwell of lying under oath in 2016, during a deposition in a lawsuit, about her role in Epstein's operation.

NYTIMES