Ghislaine Maxwell’s life in jail as trial to begin over sex trafficking charges
The trial for accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is set to begin in just hours. Here’s a look at Epstein’s ex-lover’s time in prison until now.
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In just a few hours, accused sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell will face trial after being charged with grooming underage girls for late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The 59-year-old British socialite was arrested in July 2020, after prosecutors vowed to pursue co-conspirators after Epstein’s apparent suicide in jail while awaiting trail on sex trafficking minors.
Maxwell is Epstein’s former girlfriend and was arrested 11-month after his death.
Since her arrest, she has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and kept under rigorous surveillance.
The highly-anticipated trial is set to begin on Monday night before a packed federal courthouse in Manhattan.
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Maxwell’s life in jail up until now
The 59-year-old’s time in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center has been marked by repeated claims of unsanitary and inhumane conditions.
Earlier this month, she told the Daily Mail that her 16-month-long stint behind bars had been hell.
“I have not had a nutritious meal in all that time. I haven‘t slept without lights on – fluorescent lights that have damaged my eyes – or been allowed to sleep without constant interruptions,” she said.
“I am weak, I am frail. I have no stamina. I am tired. I don‘t even have shoes which fit properly. They feed me rotten food. One apple had maggots in it. I have not been allowed to exercise.”
The former socialite had her $28.5 million bail application refused for the fourth time earlier in November. She believes that negative media coverage will make it impossible to have a fair trial when she returns to court.
Maxwell also told the Daily Mail that she stopped taking daily showers because of the “creepy guards” who stand too close and stare at her the whole time.
She also revealed she had created an imaginary cellmate during her time in solitary confinement.
“Strange things happen. The toilet flushes, the shower turns on when no one is nearby,” she said.
“When it happens, it alarms the guards so I created a ‘cellmate’ called A-17 so when something strange happens I blame it on A-17.”
She also claimed she had been passing time by playing “peek-a-boo” with the prison guards.
“I play peek-a-boo, hiding behind pillars and the guards join in. There are always smiles all around,” she said.
“Then I have a ‘monster move’ where I raise my hands and growl and they do it back. We laugh.”
Last year, Maxwell’s lawyers claimed she was being subjected to more onerous conditions than the Bureau of Prison’s (BOP) most dangerous inmates, including being roused by a torch every 15 minutes to make sure she hadn’t harmed herself.
Her lawyer, Bobbi Sternheim, addressed the letter to US District Judge Alison Nathan, saying his client has been “excessively and invasively searched and is monitored 24 hours per day”.
In addition to a camera in her cell, another device records her every movement when she leaves even during in-person legal visits, according to the filing.
“And despite non-stop in-cell camera surveillance, Ms Maxwell’s sleep is disrupted every 15 minutes when she is awakened by a flashlight to ascertain whether she is breathing,” Ms Sternheim wrote.
What charges is she facing?
Maxwell is facing six criminal charges, with US authorities describing her as a “procurer” of underage girls for accused paedophile Epstein.
She also faces other charges, including “transporting a minor for the purposes of criminal sexual activity” and “conspiring to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts”.
If found guilty, she faces a maximum of 80 years in prison.
Maxwell’s alleged crimes occurred between 1994 and 2004, and relate to four unnamed women, including two who say they were just 14 and 15 years old when they were sexually abused.
Prosecutors say Maxwell befriended girls with shopping and movie theatre trips, later coaxing them into giving Epstein nude massages at his various residences, during which he would engage in sex acts before giving them money.
US government attorneys say Maxwell sometimes participated in the alleged abuse, at her London home and at Epstein’s properties in New Mexico, Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.
She has pleaded not guilty to all charges and her lawyers gave previously indicated they plan to vehemently proclaim her innocence in court.
Maxwell has also been charged with two counts of perjury. Those counts are due to be tried after her sex crimes trial.
What will the trial look like?
There will be 12 jurors and six alternates who will be tasked with deciding Maxwell’s fate. These people will be officially seated on Monday.
The trial is taking place in the Thurgood Marshall US courthouse in lower Manhattan and is expected to continue into mid-January.
It is not known whether or not Maxwell will testify during the trial.
Maxwell and Epstein’s alleged victims are expected to testify that Maxwell operated a ring of girls and young women who were taken across state lines to provide sex acts and sexualised massages for Epstein, for which they received hundreds of dollars.
Her lawyers are expected to argue Maxwell is being punished by proxy for Epstein’s crimes and because he escaped justice.
They have indicated they will attack the accusers’ credibility by referencing alleged previous substance abuse.
They also intend to challenge their recollection of events by calling psychologist Elizabeth Loftus - an expert on “false memories” - to the stand.
In a letter to Judge Alison J. Nathan earlier this month, Maxwell’s lawyer said her client “is eager for her day in court.”
“[She] looks forward to her trial and to walking out of the courthouse uncuffed and unshackled following her acquittal,” Ms Sternheim wrote.
- with AFP
Originally published as Ghislaine Maxwell’s life in jail as trial to begin over sex trafficking charges
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