News

Ghislaine Maxwell: British socialite sentenced to 20 years for her part in Epstein abuse

Ghislaine Maxwell: British socialite sentenced to 20 years for her part in Epstein abuse
Ghislaine Maxwell juror leaves Manhattan courthouse
Independent TV

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a federal court in New York for luring young girls to massage rooms for disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse.

In addition to the sentencing Maxwell has also been handed a $750,000 fine. After serving her 20-year sentence Maxwell will also be on supervised release for five years. She will be 80 years old when she finally gets out of prison and 85 by the time she has served the full sentence

Maxwell, 60, lured young girls to massage rooms to be molested by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein between 1994 and 2004. Several famous names were mentioned throughout the trial including the Duke of York, former US presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and Pope John Paul II.

There were four female accusers who gave evidence in the trial.

Annie Farmer, who was 16 when she met Maxwell, was the only one of the four to testify using her full name. The other three women gave evidence under the pseudonyms Jane, Kate and Carolyn.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Jane said Maxwell and Epstein summoned her for an orgy at the age of just 14 in 1994, adding that Epstein would use sex toys on her “even though it hurt” and said he and Maxwell would “fondle” each other while “casually giggling” in front of her.

Meanwhile, Carolyn told the jury Maxwell groped her at the age of 14 after she told the defendant about being molested and raped at the age of four.

Maxwell told Carolyn she had a “great body for Epstein and his friends” after touching her breasts in his massage room. She told jurors she stopped seeing Epstein for massages at the age of 18 because she had become “too old” for him.

Annie said Maxwell told her to undress at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch and rubbed her breasts during a massage.

Kate said she was presented with massage oils at the age of 17 and told to “have a good time” before giving Epstein a sexualised massage. At 18, she said Maxwell had laid a schoolgirl outfit out for her to wear because she “thought it would be fun”.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.


The Conversation (0)
x