Epstein’s ex-girlfriend is denied bail
NEW YORK — Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, will remain behind bars until trial after she was denied bail Tuesday as a flight risk rather than face charges she recruited girls for the financier to sexually abuse more than two decades ago.
Two Epstein accusers implored the judge to keep the British socialite detained after she pleaded innocent to the charges during a video court hearing in Manhattan.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan said even the most restrictive form of release would be insufficient to ensure Maxwell would not flee, particularly now that she has seen the strength of the evidence and realizes that she could face up to 35 years in prison if she is convicted.
Maxwell, 58, has been held without bail since her July 2 arrest at her million-dollar New Hampshire estate.
Maxwell was accused of recruiting at least three girls, one as young as 14, for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 1997. Epstein killed himself in August, several weeks after he also was confronted by two accusers at a bail hearing who insisted that he should remain in jail while awaiting sex trafficking charges.