MAXWELL’S TEARS Epstein ‘fixer’ denied bail for a year
EPSTEIN’S EX-GIRLFRIEND WEEPS AS SHE IS LOCKED UP UNTIL HER JULY 2021 SEX-GROOMING TRIAL
GHISLAINE Maxwell wept yesterday after she was denied bail by a US court after pleading not guilty to sex abuse charges.
The former girlfriend of the notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein appeared in a video court hearing in New York.
The decision means that she must remain locked up until her trial in July next year.
She hung her head as she learned her fate, wearing a prison-issue brown top and with her normally cropped short hair now long and swept back into a bun.
One alleged victim who opposed the British socialite’s bid for bail described her as “calculating and sadistic”.
The accuser, known as Jane Doe, said: “I know how many lives she has ruined”, adding that Maxwell has “nothing to lose” by fleeing.
Ms Doe added: “She will never admit what she’s done.
“Without Ghislaine, Jeffrey could not have done what he did.”
She went on: “She [Maxwell] was in charge. She egged him [Epstein] on. I have great fear that Ghislaine Maxwell will flee.”
And alleged victim Annie Farmer, who filed her case in the civil division, described Maxwell as a “sexual predator” who never showed any remorse.
Lying
Maxwell faces six charges, including recruiting and grooming young women and girls to be sexually abused by wealthy Epstein from at least 1994 until 1997.
Prosecutors say she took part in some of the sexual abuse.
She is also charged with two counts of perjury for allegedly lying under oath during a 2016 deposition by saying she had no idea about Epstein’s alleged crimes.
Maxwell, a friend of Prince Andrew, faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted.
Epstein died in a New York prison on August 10 last year as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.
His death was determined to be suicide. Maxwell, 58, appeared via video link from Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The daughter of late publisher Robert Maxwell looked a far cry from the jet-set image she is known for in tortoiseshell glasses. When asked by District Judge Alison Nathan how she wished to plead to the indictment, she replied: “Not guilty, your honour.”
In her bail application, Maxwell offered to stay in a luxury New York hotel while on bail, putting up £4million in cash and £3million in UK property as surety.
Appearing for the government, Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe successfully argued that Maxwell should be held in jail until her trial.
Ms Moe told the court: “The government strongly believes that this defendant presents an extreme risk of flight.” She said Maxwell has significant financial means having “few if any” community ties, and a “strong incentive to flee” to avoid accountability for her crimes.
And she added: “There is a real concern here that the defendant can live beyond the reach of extradition indefinitely.”
Maxwell will now be held until her trial after she was denied bail.
Defending Maxwell, Mark Cohen told the court she was not Epstein, adding: “She’s not the monster” that had been portrayed by prosecutors in the case.
He denied Maxwell had tried to flee the FBI when they arrested her on July 2, saying the front door was actually unlocked.
And he claimed Maxwell had merely followed the instructions of her bodyguard to go to an internal room if ever there was a disturbance at the house.