Jeffrey Epstein could not have sexually abused girls without a “posh, smiling” Ghislaine Maxwell grooming them, a court heard last night as the jury prepared to deliberate over her fate.

The US government appealed to the 12-person jury to convict the “sophisticated predator” who caused “deep and lasting” harm to her alleged victims, as they delivered their closing statement.

Alison Moe, assistant US attorney, argued that Ms Maxwell’s presence made young girls feel comfortable with Epstein. Otherwise, receiving an invitation to spend time with a middle-aged man would have seemed “creepy” and “set off alarm bells”, Ms Moe said.

“Epstein could not have done this alone,” she said. “When that man is accompanied by a posh, smiling, respectable, age-appropriate woman, that’s when everything starts to seem legitimate. And when that woman... acts like it’s totally normal for that man to touch those girls, it lures them into a trap.”

She claimed Ms Maxwell normalised physical touch and sexualised massages to those she allegedly groomed for Epstein, some as young as 14, adding: “She was a sophisticated predator who knew exactly what she was doing.”

The Maxwell family presented a united front in the public gallery yesterday, with Ian and Christine joining Kevin and Isabel, who have been in court supporting their youngest sibling since the trial began three weeks ago.

Ms Maxwell (59), who is facing an effective life sentence on six charges of sex-trafficking, scribbled notes and shuffled pieces of paper for the first half of the prosecution’s closing as she avoided looking at the jury.

Ms Moe said it was “not an accident” that the alleged victims largely came from troubled backgrounds and single-parent families, and had similar accounts of their abuse.

Speaking of one of the four victims, a British woman using the name ‘Kate’, she said: “She was dazzled by this impressive woman who made her feel special. It was predatory behaviour – finding kids who needed something and exploiting that need. She ran the same play book again and again and again.”

Laura Menninger for Ms Maxwell, claimed she was being scapegoated for her former boyfriend’s crimes. “They wanted you to think she was Cruella de Vil and The Devil Wears Prada all wrapped into one,” Ms Menninger told the jury, referring to the film depiction of British Vogue editor Anna Wintour. “That is a manipulation of the truth as old as Hollywood itself.”

Ms Menninger, taking an aggressive tone, reminded the jury that it was Ms Maxwell on trial, not Epstein.

“The government focused its case on Epstein. They proved to you he was a master manipulator. But that has nothing to do with Ms Maxwell.”

She described Epstein as a puppet-master who dated women behind Ms Maxwell’s back. “She was a happy, educated, beautiful woman. Why would she risk it all for one man, just because, as they said, he was a means to support her lifestyle?” Ms Menninger asked. “Use your common sense.”

But Maurene Comey, the lead prosecutor, said it was “borderline laughable” that Ms Maxwell didn’t know about Epstein’s crimes. She added that the millions of dollars given to Ms Maxwell by Epstein was “we molested kids” money. 

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]