20 years for a monster
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VICTIMS of Ghislaine Maxwell told how she had “opened the door to hell” yesterday as the fallen socialite was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
One, Juliette Bryant, told a court of the nightmares she had suffered at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein after being trafficked by Maxwell, and said: “Simply put, she is a monster.”
Last night, lawyers outside New York’s federal court called for other associates of the pair to be investigated – including Prince Andrew.
Brad Edwards, who secured the Duke of York’s sex accuser Virginia Giuffre a £12million out-of-court settlement, appealed to the FBI not to stop its investigation.
Asked about others possibly linked to Maxwell and Epstein, he said: “Let’s hope they’re the next target. If we have anything to do with it, they will be.”
He was backed by top lawyer Spencer Kuvin, who represents several of Epstein and Maxwell’s victims.
The attorney said: “Obviously, Andrew is one of the targets they will be looking into.
“He should definitely be concerned, but ... if he did nothing wrong, then come forward and tell the full story to the FBI, not the media.”
Kuvin named other targets, which included another Briton.
In sentencing, Judge Alison Nathane said Maxwell, 60, and Epstein used a “playbook” and the result was “incalculable” damage to their victims.
She said: “A substantial sentence will send an unmistakable message that those who engage in sexual abuse and trafficking of underage victims will be held accountable by the law.
“The rule of law demands, and this court agrees, that whether you are rich or powerful or entirely unknown, nobody is above the law.”
Judge Nathan added that Maxwell was “not being punished in place of Epstein”, calling the crimes “heinous and predatory”.
She told Maxwell: “A sentence of 240 months is sufficient and no graver than necessary.”
Maxwell looked at her victims, telling them: “I am sorry for the pain that you experienced.
“I hope my conviction and harsh incarceration brings you pleasure.”
She had arrived in court wearing a prison-issue uniform with shackles around her ankles which rattled as she made her way to her seat.
Maxwell had hoped to serve less than three years with time off for the 22 months she spent on remand.
With good behaviour, she could be released in her mid-to-late 70s.
She was also fined the maximum amount possible, $750,000 (£612,000).
Judge Nathan noted Maxwell was in line for a bequest of £8.2million from Epstein but Maxwell’s lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said she had not received the money and did not expect to.
Maxwell will be eligible to serve most of her sentence in the UK if she applies for a transfer after three years.
Sternheim requested the Briton be sent to a low-security female prison in Danbury, Connecticut, and enrolled in a trauma treatment programme.
Lawyer Lisa Bloom, who represents several Epstein victims and a witness
who claims to have seen Andrew with Giuffre together, said: “We call upon the FBI to fully investigate Prince Andrew.
“Virginia Giuffre’s civil case should be just the beginning. Everyone associated with Epstein and Maxwell should be carefully investigated.”
In January 2020, then US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman said: “To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero cooperation.”
US investigators later applied to the British government to hand over the Duke to give evidence through a “Mutual Legal Assistance” request to the Home Office, bypassing Buckingham Palace. If approved, the
FBI could ask Andrew to be compelled to go to a British court to give evidence under oath as a witness.
The Home Office has refused to comment on the status of the MLA.
Maxwell was convicted last
December of sex trafficking minors for her former lover Epstein. Prosecutor Alison Moe told the court: “Maxwell trapped young girls in a horrifying nightmare. What kind of person flies around on a plane with underage girls so her boyfriend always has someone to touch? To Maxwell, there were two kinds of people in this world – the people who really matter and the people who were disposable.”
The packed New York courtroom
I was nothing more than a sex toy with a heartbeat. I tried to escape by jumping off a cliff SARAH RANSOME ON BEING TRAFFICKED BY MAXWELL
For me and so many others you opened the door to hell VIRGINIA GIUFFRE IN STATEMENT TO COURT
sat in silence yesterday as four victims told how they had fallen prey to Maxwell and Epstein.
“Kate” was a former model from the UK who told jurors Maxwell invited her to her London home, where she was told to “have a good time” after finding Epstein naked inside.
She told the court Maxwell namedropped being a friend of Prince Andrew before asking the victim, 17 at the time, to find someone to perform a sex act on him.
Kate told Judge Nathan: “She is not sorry and would do it again.”
In her statement, Briton Sarah Ransome, who grew up in Scotland and did not give evidence in the trial, said the two turned her into “nothing more than a sex toy with a heartbeat”.
She said she was so traumatised, she tried to kill herself by leaping off a cliff into shark-infested water on Epstein’s island in the US Virgin Islands. She added: “I was caught by Maxwell and company moments before jumping. That extremely risky escape seemed more appealing than being raped one more time.”
Another victim, Elizabeth Stein – who did not take part in the trial – told how she had an abortion after being raped and trafficked.
She said: “Things happened that were so traumatising that to this day, I’m unable to speak about them.”
At her three-week trial in December, a jury heard Maxwell “served up” underage girls for paedophile Epstein at his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.
Between 1994 and 2004, Maxwell was Epstein’s “right hand” and paid girls for sexualised massages and even took part in the abuse. Carolyn testified that she was one of several underprivileged teens who lived near Epstein’s Florida home and took up an offer to give massages in exchange for $100 (£82) bills.
Maxwell made all the arrangements, Carolyn told the jury.
Kate said Maxwell recruited her in London in 1994 when she was 17, inviting her for tea and then asking her back to give Epstein a massage.
“Jane” said that in 1994 when she was 14, she was told to follow Epstein into a pool house at his Palm Beach estate, where he performed a sex act. She told the jury: “I was frozen in fear.”
Giuffre, who could not attend yesterday’s hearing due to a medical issue, provided a statement to the court reading: “Together, you (and Epstein) damaged me physically, mentally, sexually, and emotionally. For me and for so many others, you opened the door to hell.
“You deserve to spend the rest of your life in a jail cell.”
Outside court, Maxwell’s lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, said her client had been “pilloried” and “convicted in the court of public opinion”.
She said Maxwell would appeal, and suggested jurors saw her as a stand-in for Epstein – who died in jail awaiting trial – adding: “Clever and cunning to the end, Jeffrey Epstein left Ghislaine Maxwell holding the whole bag.”
Prince Andrew last night declined to comment.