BAIL DENIED TO EPSTEIN ASSOCIATE MAXWELL IN N.Y.
Rules she poses substantial flight risk before trial
NEW YORK
Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein who has been charged with helping him recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse girls as young as 14, was denied bail Tuesday by a judge who said she posed a high risk of fleeing before her trial.
The judge, Alison Nathan of U.S. District Court, said Maxwell had demonstrated a sophisticated ability to hide herself and obscure her financial resources.
Prosecutors argued at the hearing that Maxwell had provided “implausible” statements about her finances, including that she had no income.
“Ms. Maxwell poses a substantial actual risk of flight,” she said.
The hearing was unusual in that it was virtual: Maxwell, who is being held in a federal detention center in Brooklyn, N.Y.; her lawyer; the prosecutor; and the judge each appeared remotely from their locations on separate video screens streamed into a large room at the courthouse, all part of special precautions being taken by the court because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Maxwell showed up on video from a room in the Brooklyn jail where she was being held, wearing a dark-colored shirt with her hair pulled back. Throughout the hearing, she responded politely to the judge’s questions and did not react visibly as the judge read her ruling.
She wiped her eyes at some points, but it was not clear if she was crying. Near the end of the hearing, she dropped her head repeatedly as it became apparent that she would not be granted bail.
During the hearing, Nathan, wearing white headphones, listened to the statements of two women who said they were victims of Maxwell and urged the judge not to release her before trial.
One of the women, Annie Farmer, called Maxwell “a sexual predator who groomed and abused me and countless other children and young women.” Farmer could be heard reading her statement, but was not shown on video.
A prosecutor, Alison Moe, read aloud the statement from the other woman, who chose to be referred to only as Jane Doe. In her statement, she said, “Without Ghislaine, Jeffrey could not have done what he did.”
A six-count federal indictment has charged that from 1994 to 1997 Maxwell helped Epstein entice girls to engage in sexual abuse, and that, in some instances, she participated in the abuse. It also accuses her of lying under oath in 2016 during depositions for a lawsuit about her knowledge of Epstein’s sexual activities.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Maxwell pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, conspiracy and perjury.
She has been in federal custody since her arrest July 2.
Maxwell’s lawyer, Mark Cohen, sought to distance his client from Epstein, telling the judge, “She’s not the monster that’s been portrayed by the media and the government.”
The judge scheduled Maxwell’s trial, which is expected to last two to three weeks, for July 2021.
Hong and Weiser write for The New York Times.