Victims of Ghislaine Maxwell who were brave enough to tell their stories have been praised for helping justice be served.

After a month long trial, the longtime companion of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted yesterday of sexual abuse and trafficking underage girls.

Maxwell, who turned 60 behind bars on Christmas Day, denied luring vulnerable teenagers for the now deceased billionaire and convicted paedophile.

This meant the four women who testified her had to relive their trauma in court and faced attempts from the defence to discredit them.

Following yesterday’s unanimous jury verdict, the US attorney’s office said: ‘The road to justice has been far too long.

‘But, today, justice has been done. I want to commend the bravery of the girls – now grown women – who stepped out of the shadows and into the courtroom.

‘Their courage and willingness to face their abuser made this case, and today’s result, possible.

‘I also want to thank the career prosecutors of the Southern District of New York, who embraced the victims’ quest for justice and have worked tirelessly, day in and day out, to ensure that Maxwell was held accountable for her crimes.

‘This office will always stand with victims, will always follow the facts wherever they lead, and will always fight to ensure that no-one, no matter how powerful and well connected, is above the law.’

Sigrid McCawley, who represents several of Epstein’s victims, said that with the verdict Maxwell has been held accountable and justice served.

She said: ‘Today’s verdict is a towering victory, not just for the brave women who testified in this trial, but for the women around the world whose young and tender lives were diminished and damaged by the abhorrent actions of Ghislaine Maxwell.’

Lisa Bloom, who represents a number of Maxwell’s and Epstein’s accusers, also gave her reaction to the verdict, saying she was ‘moved to tears’ that this day has finally come’.

She added: ‘Convicted sex trafficker Maxwell has finally been held to account for bringing girls to Jeffrey Epstein.

‘Maxwell got to walk free on this earth for 60 years. May she never walk free again. The lesson: you do not have to be perfect to stand up for justice.

‘All four of Ghislaine’s accusers endured tough cross examinations about drug use, sexual behaviours, inconsistent statements. The jury saw through it and delivered justice.’

During the trial, Maxwell’s defence used the testimony of a psychologist who cast doubt on the victim’s memories, claiming accounts of sexual abuse can be tainted when accusers are questioned by police and media.

The lawyers claimed victims had been manipulated over time and never mentioned the British socialite’s role in their abuse until after Epstein’s death.

They also focused on a compensation fund that awarded nearly $125 million to Epstein’s victims in their attempt to discredit the four women who testified against Maxwell.

But publicly available documents on the fund don’t suggest that talking to prosecutors would increase the sum of any award.

As one accuser put it: ‘Money will not ever fix what that woman has done to me.’

Ms Bloom also shared a message she had received from one of her clients, named only as Kiki.

The statement said: ‘No sentence or punishment will take away the trauma that we all had to endure at their hands, but now she will have to live with what she did, just the way the survivors have to live with it every day of our lives.

‘What she and Jeffrey did for their own sadistic pleasures, sentenced all of their victims to their own metaphorical prisons.

‘I fight every day to escape those 4 walls that entrapped me the day I was abused, and now she will know what that’s like for all of the girls she damaged for life.’

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