Maxwell jailed for 20 years
PREDATOR: GUILTY OF HELPING EPSTEIN ABUSE GIRLS
Aged 60, likely to spend much of rest of her life in prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls – capping the former socialite’s sordid fall from grace.
The Oxford-educated daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell appeared not to react as New York Judge Alison Nathan handed down the term in a packed Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.
The sentence was much less than prosecutors sought but still means the 60-year-old friend to royalty and former US presidents is likely to spend much of the rest of her life in jail.
Nathan called Maxwell’s crimes “heinous and predatory” as she went with the amount of time recommended by the US probation office, rejecting Maxwell’s claims that she was pursued by prosecutors only because Epstein escaped trial by killing himself in prison.
“It is important to emphasize that although Epstein was central to this criminal scheme, Ms Maxwell is not being punished in place of Epstein, or as a proxy for Epstein,” said the judge.
Maxwell was convicted late last year on five of six counts, the most serious for sex trafficking minors following a month-long high-profile trial in New York.
The charges stemmed from crimes committed against four women between 1994 and 2004.
Prosecutors successfully proved she was “the key” to Epstein’s scheme of enticing young girls to give him massages and he would sexually abuse them.
Maxwell expressed sympathy for the victims during a statement in court on Tuesday, saying she was “sorry for the pain that you experienced” but blamed “manipulative” Epstein.
“Ghislaine must die in prison,” accuser Sarah Ransome told reporters outside court.
Her sentencing completes a dramatic fall for the former international jetsetter who grew up in wealth and privilege as a friend to royalty. –