Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking trial ‘overhyped’, brother insists
Before opening arguments in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial for allegedly aiding the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of minor girls, the Briton’s brother protested over what he called “the most over-hyped trial of the century”.
A family member would be in court at all times from Monday to show support, Ian Maxwell told the Associated Press. A woman who identified herself to court staff as a family member has attended all recent proceedings.
Prosecutors allege Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, groomed girls as young as 14 to have sex with Epstein and lied about her knowledge of his abuse during a defamation suit filed against her by an Epstein accuser, Virginia Giuffre.
Giuffre alleges that Epstein and Maxwell forced her into sex acts with Prince Andrew when she was 17. Maxwell has insisted she is innocent. The Duke of York maintains he has done nothing wrong.
Giuffre sued Maxwell for publicly calling her a liar. The suit was settled. Maxwell will be tried separately for allegedly lying, meaning Giuffre’s claims will not be part of proceedings in court in New York on Monday.
Following Maxwell’s arrest in July 2020, prosecutors alleged that she had lured girls into a trap. Audrey Strauss, then acting Manhattan US attorney, said Maxwell “played a critical role in helping Epstein to identify, befriend and groom minor victims” and that “in some cases, Maxwell participated in the abuse”.
The FBI assistant director William Sweeney said: “Ms Maxwell chose to blatantly disregard the law and her responsibility as an adult, using whatever means she had at her disposal to lure vulnerable youth into behavior they should never have been exposed to, creating the potential for lasting harm.”
Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019. Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to all charges. She has been in custody for almost 17 months, after Judge Alison J Nathan denied requests for bail.
Criticising what he called “the most over-hyped trial of the century without a doubt”, Ian Maxwell told the AP the trial was “designed to break” his sister.
“I can’t see any other way to read it,” he said, adding: “And she will not be broken because she believes completely in her innocence and she is going to give the best account she can.
“This is not quite a put-up job but
nonetheless [the case] has been cobbled together so that Ghislaine is made to face the charges that Epstein never faced.”
Many legal experts reject that view. Last week, Moira Penza, who as an assistant US attorney in Brooklyn successfully prosecuted the Nxivm sex cult case, told the Guardian: “Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Judge Nathan obviously is concerned about undue prejudice against Ms Maxwell and making sure that she’s going to have a fair trial.
“This is very much her trial. This is very much not Jeffrey Epstein on trial.”
Maxwell, who lived with Epstein for years, is the youngest of nine children of Robert Maxwell, once one of the richest men in Britain but who siphoned hundreds of millions of pounds from employee pension funds. Ian Maxwell and his brother Kevin were charged with financial crimes related to their father’s actions. Both were acquitted.
The family continues to demand that Ghislaine Maxwell be released on bail, arguing the conditions of her detention are tantamount to torture and prevent her from assisting defense attorneys.
Ian Maxwell says his sister is in “effective isolation” at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where she is held in a 6ft by 9ft cell with no natural light, a toilet and a concrete bed. She is unable to sleep because she is watched around the clock by four guards and 10 cameras due to unwarranted concerns she is a suicide risk, he said.
Earlier this month, a judge again refused to let Maxwell trade her cell for home detention, citing the serious nature of the charges and a risk of flight. This week, the six remaining Maxwell siblings asked the United Nations to investigate what they called the “inhumane” treatment of Ghislaine.
“The denial of bail is wholly inappropriate,” Ian Maxwell said. “Some very famous, infamous people were granted bail, as most recently the killer of George Floyd [Derek Chauvin], a murderer. John Gotti, another murderer, a mobster. Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Bernie Madoff. These are all men, of course, who got bail. Ghislaine is a woman who somehow doesn’t get bail.”