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The jailed ex-girlfriend of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, has also pleaded not guilty on two new sex trafficking charges.

The 59-year-old appeared in person on Friday for the first time since her arrest last summer in a court in New York.

The visibly aged Maxwell spoke only a few words in the brief hearing and had the new allegations rejected by her lawyer.

The former Epstein confidante was arrested in July 2020 in the US east coast state of New Hampshire and charged on six counts, including transporting minors for a "criminal sexual act" and perjury.

The federal prosecutor in Manhattan accuses her of having recruited underage girls for Epstein, who were then sexually abused by the investment banker.

In part, Maxwell is said to have been involved in the abuse himself.

Victim reportedly had to recruit more girls

At the end of March the indictment was then expanded to include two points.

The daughter of the late British media baron Robert Maxwell was also accused of “sex trafficking with a minor” and “conspiracy to trade in sex”, and another victim was included in the expanded indictment.

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This fourth alleged victim was 14 years old when she was recruited by Maxwell and Epstein in 2001 and coerced into sexual acts on Epstein in Palm Beach, Florida, according to prosecutors.

In addition, the girl is said to have been forced to recruit more girls between 2001 and 2004.

The allegations against Maxwell span a total of ten years, from 1994 to 2004. The trial of Maxwell, who faces life imprisonment, was originally scheduled to begin on July 12th.

The date is likely to be postponed because of the new charges.

Maxwell is currently on remand in New York.

Her release on bail was repeatedly refused because of the risk of fleeing.

Isabel Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell's sister, accompanies the process

Credit: AFP / TIMOTHY A. CLARY

Maxwell's arrest was a spectacular development in the Epstein case.

The multimillionaire is said to have sexually abused underage girls and young women for years and incited them to prostitution.

The well-connected investment banker was arrested in July 2019 and found dead in his Manhattan prison cell in August.

According to the US Department of Justice, the 66-year-old committed suicide.

Epstein was sentenced to 13 months in prison for the sexual abuse of minors in 2008 and has since been listed as a sex criminal.