Longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested Thursday on a six-count indictment charging her with grooming young girls for sex.
The British socialite, 58, was arrested by the FBI in New Hampshire around 8:30 a.m., authorities said.
The just-unsealed indictment charges stem from Maxwell’s role “in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein” as early as 1994, court papers say.
“The victims were as young as 14 years old when they were groomed and abused by Maxwell and Epstein, both of whom knew that certain victims were in fact under the age of 18,” the indictment says.
She is specifically accused of grooming three underage victims for sex with Epstein in places including his Upper East Side townhouse, Florida, New Mexico and London.
Maxwell is charged with six counts — conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and two counts of perjury.
Prosecutors also accuse Maxwell — a one-time girlfriend of Epstein’s — of repeatedly lying about her involvement in the financier’s sex trafficking ring during a 2016 deposition.
The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan is expected to announce the charges at a noon press conference.
Her arrest comes almost a year after Epstein was busted on federal sex trafficking charges on July 6, 2019. He committed suicide in August a day after some 2,000 court documents were unsealed in a related civil case, revealing details of his alleged sex ring.
Prosecutors continued investigating his alleged crimes, leaving open the possibility that his associates could be arrested.
Maxwell went into hiding after the convicted pedophile’s death. Sources told The Post she was arrested in a house in the woods that she bought under an LLC in December. She’s worked to keep her whereabouts secret, hopping from place to place within the US, sources added.
The FBI said Maxwell was busted in Bradford, New Hampshire, a rural town of 1,650 residents.
Maxwell, the daughter of media mogul Robert Maxwell who also has an address in London, has long been accused of grooming young girls to have sex with Epstein and his inner circle of powerful pals.
One of the most vocal Epstein victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, accused Maxwell of recruiting her as a teen in a 2015 defamation suit that has since been settled.
Maxwell allegedly perjured herself during a deposition in Giuffre’s suit by claiming she knew nothing about Epstein having sex with underage girls.
Giuffre claims she was forced to have sex with Epstein and his close friend Prince Andrew.
Maxwell and Andrew have vehemently denied the claims.
Prosecutors said their investigation into Maxwell and Epstein is ongoing — leaving open the possibility that more charges are coming.
Lawyers for Maxwell and others have recently been fighting the potential release of secret court documents related to Giuffre’s suit — including portions of the 2016 deposition about Maxwell’s sex life.
Another alleged victim, Jennifer Araoz, came forward last year claiming she was just 14 when Maxwell befriended her at her performing arts school in Manhattan and convinced her to work as Epstein’s masseuse.
Araoz sued Epstein’s estate and Maxwell, claiming he raped her during a massage session.
Other women have filed similar suits claiming they too were recruited by Maxwell and sexually abused by Epstein. Last week, the alleged victims were greenlit to begin applying for monetary relief through an independently run victim’s compensation fund.
Maxwell is expected to appear in New Hampshire federal court via video Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors have filed a memo asking that she be held without bail, noting her wealth, lack of ties to the US and three passports.
Several victims celebrated the news of Maxwell’s arrest.