Ghislaine Maxwell during her trial in courtroom sketch in New York City
Ghislaine Maxwell during her trial in courtroom sketch in New York CityREUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty by a US jury on Wednesday of helping financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls.

Jurors deliberated for five full days before finding Maxwell guilty of five of six counts. As the verdict was read, Maxwell appeared to show little reaction behind a black mask, according to The Associated Press.

She stood with her hands folded as the jury filed out, and glanced at her siblings as she herself was led from the courtroom, but was otherwise stoic, the report said.

The jury, which was made up of six women and six men deliberated for about 40 hours, across parts of six days.

Maxwell faces up to 65 years in prison for her role in recruiting and grooming Epstein's teenage victims and sometimes joining in the abuse.

Maxwell, 60, was accused of recruiting and grooming four teenagers for Epstein between 1994 and 2004.

Prosecutors argued Maxwell and Epstein conspired to set up a scheme to lure young girls into sexual relationships with Epstein from 1994 to 2004 in New York, Florida, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. Four women testified during the trial that Epstein abused them and that Maxwell facilitated the abuse and sometimes participated in it as well.

Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges of his own.