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Paris-born socialite, daughter of a controversial British media tycoon who drowned in mysterious circumstances and, potentially, the key to the secrets of a convicted American sex offender and his web of powerful friends – the next chapter in the dramatic life story of Ghislaine Maxwell has moved a step closer to unfolding.
A news conference is held to announce charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her alleged role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of multiple minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein, New York, July 2, 2020. /AP
The 58-year-old pleaded not guilty via video link in New York on Tuesday to six charges and her request for bail was rejected. She is accused of perjury and grooming teenage girls for the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in an apparent suicide in federal prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Maxwell, who has denied wrongdoing, had been on the run for almost a year before her arrest at a remote New Hampshire home, guarded by former British soldiers, on July 2.
Power, money and disgrace
The Epstein story, a tale of the super-rich – yachts, private islands and jets – using the power of connections and money to abuse vulnerable young women and girls, has garnered headlines, podcasts, TV series and conspiracy theories around the world.
The late disgraced financier's accusers were largely silenced until a 2018 investigation by Julie K Brown, a Miami Herald reporter who dug into a secret plea deal Epstein made in 2007 with Alex Acosta, then U.S. attorney for southern Florida, after being arrested for unlawful sex acts with a minor.
In The Spotlight: Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?
While Epstein did spend time behind bars and was registered as a sex offender, the agreement allowed him to plead guilty only to two counts of soliciting prostitution – including with a minor – and avoid a much lengthier and less comfortable stay in federal prison. It also ended an FBI investigation into additional victims and whether other people were involved in abuse.
The fallout from the multimillionaire's re-arrest in July 2019, following dogged research by Brown which included interviews with dozens of his accusers, included the resignation of Acosta as President Donald Trump's labor secretary and the retirement from public life of Britain's Prince Andrew.
Little St. James Island, in the U. S. Virgin Islands, a property owned by Jeffrey Epstein. /AP
Epstein was found dead in prison in August 2019 as he awaited trial. For many of his accusers, justice died with him. For his network of friends and contacts, secrets were taken to the grave.
But with the arrest of Maxwell, the story continues.
Secrets to spill?
Maxwell's lawyers argue that she is now being unfairly used as a substitute for Epstein, noting she has never been convicted of a crime. One of her accusers, Annie Farmer, on Tuesday alleged that Maxwell is "a sexual predator who groomed and abused me and countless other children and young women."
There's little doubt her arrest will have the powerful people who spent time in Epstein's company shifting uncomfortably, particularly as the case is being tried by the Southern District of New York's Public Corruption Unit, which typically investigates crimes committed by government officials and employees.
A string of influential men, from presidents to princes, have been photographed at parties with the disgraced financier and the contact details of many more appeared in his "little black book," which was published by Gawker in 2015.
A boulder inscribed with "Tucked Away" sits beside a road going to an estate where Ghislaine Maxwell was taken into custody, Bradford, New Hampshire, July 2, 2020. /AP
Epstein's sometime friend, girlfriend and business associate is accused of recruiting girls for him to sexually abuse more than two decades ago. The 58-year-old, who holds American, British and French citizenship, claims not to have had contact with her former partner for more than a decade and denies any wrongdoing.
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday described Maxwell as an "extreme" flight risk, and revealed that when attempting to arrest her they were forced to break down the door to her home, located on a 156-acre estate and purchased anonymously with cash.
An unnamed accuser warned, "I personally know her international connections that will help her disappear at a moment's notice, or make others disappear."
Media outlets set up cameras outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, New York, where Ghislaine Maxwell is held, July 14, 2020. /AP
The judge's decision to refuse Maxwell's request for her release on a five-million-dollar bail means a woman accustomed to wealth and privilege will now spend a year in jail before a trial scheduled for July 12, 2021 begins. She faces up to 35 years behind bars if convicted.
Now that Maxwell is confined in a Brooklyn jail with no prospect of release for at least 12 months, prosecutors and nervous onlookers are asking: What does she know, does she have evidence and will she strike a deal to save herself?
