Prosecution rests in sex-abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors at the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell have completed presenting their case against the British socialite accused of sexually abusing teenage girls with her late companion, financier Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier Friday, key accuser Annie Farmer testified that Maxwell and Epstein forced themselves on her during a 1996 visit to Epstein’s sprawling New Mexico ranch when she was just 16.

Maxwell has denied charges she groomed underage girls for Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019.

Her lawyers say the government is making her a scapegoat for alleged sex crimes committed by her onetime boyfriend and moved immediately for a judgment of acquittal Friday afternoon.