Warning: This story contains references to sexual abuse and suicide.
A three-judge panel in New York ruled on Thursday to uphold Ghislaine Maxwell's sex trafficking conviction for helping the late financier Jeffrey Epstein abuse underage girls, after the disgraced British socialite filed to appeal the charges.
"Identifying no errors in the District Court's conduct of this complex case, we affirm the District Court's … judgement of conviction," Judge José Cabranes wrote in the ruling.
Maxwell's lawyers had argued that her convictions violated a 2007 NPA agreement which Epstein reached with federal prosecutors in southern Florida.
In the agreement, Epstein pleaded guilty to sex crimes under the condition his co-conspirators were granted immunity.
The appeals court ruled that this agreement applied only to the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida and didn't apply to prosecutors in New York.
"There is nothing in the NPA that affirmatively shows that the NPA was intended to bind multiple districts," Judge Carbanes wrote.
"Instead, where the NPA is not silent, the agreement's scope is expressly limited to the Southern District of Florida."
The court also rejected suggestions that some of the charges were filed too late, saying Congress passed legislation in 2003 stating that no statute of limitations would apply to crimes involving the sexual or physical abuse of minors "during the life of the child".
Maxwell and Epstein were once romantically linked. (Supplied: US Attorney's Office SDNY)
"The statutory text makes clear that Congress intended to extend the time to bring charges of sexual abuse for pre-enactment conduct as the prior statute of limitations was inadequate," Judge Carbanes wrote.
The panel also rejected Maxwell's claims that her trial was tainted because one juror did not disclose that he had been sexually abused as a child, and that the sentence was too long.
Writing for the panel, Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes found Maxwell's punishment procedurally reasonable.
He cited the trial judge's assessment that the sentence reflected Maxwell's "pivotal role in facilitating the abuse of the underaged girls through a series of deceptive tactics" and the "significant and lasting harm it inflicted".
Maxwell also argued in her appeal that prosecutors scapegoated her because Epstein was dead and the public demanded that someone else be held accountable.
Tuesday's decision did not address that argument.
Maxwell found guilty of aiding Epstein in trafficking scheme
Maxwell was found guilty in December 2021 of luring young girls to Epstein so he could molest them. (AP: Elizabeth Williams)
Maxwell was found guilty on five charges in December 2021, for having recruited and groomed four underage girls between 1994 and 2004 so Epstein — her former boyfriend — could abuse them.
Epstein sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, exploiting girls as young as 14.
Four of Epstein's accusers testified that they were abused in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein's mansions in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.
In 2007, Epstein reached a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida in which he agreed to plead guilty to two sex crimes and serve 18 months in prison.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019, aged 66, while awaiting trial in Manhattan.
Celebrity connections helped further abuse
Maxwell is serving her sentence at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida. (Supplied: Talk TV)
Prosecutors said Maxwell, his longtime companion, helped him and made the abuse possible.
The case has drawn widespread attention because of Epstein and Maxwell's links to royals, presidents and billionaires.
Maxwell herself is the daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who once owned the New York Daily News.
While their celebrity connections didn't play a prominent role in Maxwell's trial, mentions of friends such as Bill Clinton and Donald Trump showed how the pair exploited their connections to further the trafficking scheme.
She was criminally charged in New York in 2020 and sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022.
Maxwell is serving her sentence at a low-security federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida.
Thursday's decision means Maxwell will remain in prison.
Sigrid McCawley, a lawyer for dozens of Epstein accusers, called Tuesday's decision "another step towards justice."
A lawyer for Maxwell signalled she would appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.
"We are obviously very disappointed by the court's decision and we vehemently disagree with the outcome," Maxwell's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said in a statement.
"We are cautiously optimistic that Ghislaine will get the justice she deserves from the Supreme Court of the United States."
AP/Reuters