Ghislaine Maxwell now says meeting Jeffrey Epstein was the biggest regret of her life. The two are pictured at a concert in 2005. Photo / Getty
Ghislaine Maxwell now says meeting Jeffrey Epstein was the biggest regret of her life. The two are pictured at a concert in 2005. Photo / Getty
Ghislaine Maxwell has addressed the court at her sentencing hearing - breaking her silence on Jeffrey Epstein for the first time in her entire legal process.
Wearing navy prison overalls and ankle shackles, she said: "I empathise deeply with all the victims in this case," she said.
"I realise I have been convicted of assisting Jeffrey Epstein to commit these crimes. My association with Epstein will permanently stain me. It is the biggest regret of my life that I ever met him."
Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in supplying girls for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, as part of one of the largest sex-trafficking rings in US history.
The stiff sentence was the punctuation mark on a trial that explored the sordid rituals of a predator power couple who courted the rich and famous as they lured vulnerable girls as young as 14, and then exploited them.
Prosecutors said Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial, sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, and couldn't have done so without the help of Maxwell, his longtime companion and onetime girlfriend who they said also sometimes participated in the abuse.
In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell, right, is seated beside her attorney, Christian Everdell, during her sentencing. Illustration / Elizabeth Williams, AP
The Oxford-educated daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell was convicted late last year on five of six sexual abuse counts, the most serious for sex trafficking minors, and her sentence could amount to an effective life term behind bars.
Inside the crowded courtroom, three of Maxwell's siblings sat in a row behind her. Most of the others in attendance were members of the media.
Judge Alison Nathan said that the sentencing guidelines would be taken from 2003, when the last offence can be proven to have occurred. This means that the guidelines recommend between 15.5 and 19.5 years behind bars. Maxwell is 60 years old.
Sarah Ransome, an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, right, alongside Elizabeth Stein, left, speak outside court. Photo / John Minchillo, AP
The court heard a series of emotional victim impact statements from including a British woman who testified at trial under the name "Kate" and Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Judge Alison Nathan said the guideline for sentencing was between 188 to 235 months.
"A jury convicted her. Ms. Maxwell is not being punished as a proxy of Epstein, but rather for her role in the criminal conduct. She participated in some of the abuse. Her conduct was heinous and predatory."
Judge Nathan says: "A significant sentence is necessary. I take into account the history and characteristics of the defendant, including her present lack of danger.
Judge Alison Nathan. Illustration / Elizabeth Williams, AP
"The sentencing submissions did not express remorse or accept responsibility. Ms. Maxwell is entitled to exercise her right to go to trial. But I will take into account her lack of remorse. I conclude that a sentence of 240 months is right."
Judge Nathan says: "That is 20 years. Then five years of supervised release. I impose a fine of $750,000."
The sentence is the maximum allowed by law.
Epstein and Maxwell's associations with some of the world's most famous people were not a prominent part of the trial, but mentions of friends like Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Britain's Prince Andrew showed how the pair exploited their connections to impress their prey.
Over the past 17 years, scores of women have accused Epstein of abusing them. Many described Maxwell as acting as a madam who recruited them to give massages to Epstein.
Bobbi Sternheim, Maxwell's lawyer, requested that her client be sent to the BOP woman's facility in Danbury, Connecticut, and enrolled in a female treatment programme to address past familial and other trauma.
Ghislaine Maxwell's attorney Bobbi Sternheim arriving at federal court in New York ahead of the sentencing. Photo / Seth Wenig, AP
Prior to the sentence being passed, the court heard victim impact statements.
Annie Farmer asked the judge to "take into account the ongoing suffering of the many women she abused and exploited, as we will continue to live with the memories of the ways she harmed us".
"How you do anything is how you do everything," she said.
"Every person should have an equal fight to be protected. No person should be shielded from the consequences of their actions. Ghislaine's lack of remorse is the final insult."
Virginia Roberts Giuffre was not in court, but her statement was read out.
It said: "Together, you damaged me. Together, you did unspeakable things. I want to be clear: without question, Jeffrey Epstein was a terrible paedophile. But I only met him because of you."
Sarah Ransome, 37, who was born in Johannesburg to British parents and alleges she was sexually abused at Epstein's private Virgin Island in 2006 aged 22.
She claims Maxwell was aware of the abuse, and in one case, she says, Maxwell forced her into a room where Epstein raped her.
Ransome was emotional as she spoke in court. "I experience flashbacks," she said.
"I am hyper-vigilant and do not trust people easily. I will sometimes start crying for reasons I cannot always comprehend. I've been diagnosed with anxiety and PTSD and a tendency to self-harm.
"I have never entered into a normal relationship. I have no children, something I dreamed of. I attend meetings to treat alcoholism. I have had numerous relapses. Only by the grace of God, do I continue to live. I have attempted suicide twice."
Ransome said she travelled to New York to attend the trial and it was "cathartic".
"I am glad the jury believed the victims and returned a guilty verdict. Sentence her to the rest of her life in prison. It will give us survivors a slight sense of justice.
"To Ghislaine, I say, you broke me but not my spirit."
Another victim, Elizabeth Stein, said Maxwell and Epstein "made me feel like they were friends, contemporaries.
"In one instance, they took me to Florida, insisted that I stay longer than planned which caused me to miss work and led to my being fired.
"Seizing on this new vulnerability, they began trafficking me to their friends. By that time I was trapped.
"I was assaulted, raped and trafficked countless times in New York and Florida during a three-year period.
"At one point, I became pregnant... by whom I am unsure... and aborted the baby.
"Things happened that were so traumatising that to this day I'm unable to speak about them; I don't even have the vocabulary to describe them.
"In the most literal sense of the word, Epstein and Maxwell terrified me."
The allegations against Epstein first surfaced publicly in 2005. He pleaded guilty to sex charges in Florida and served 13 months in jail, much of it in a work-release programme as part of a deal criticised as lenient. Afterward, he was required to register as a sex offender.
In the years that followed, many women sued Epstein over alleged abuse. One, Virginia Giuffre, claimed Epstein and Maxwell had also pressured her into sexual trysts with other powerful men, including Prince Andrew. All of those men denied the allegations and Giuffre ultimately settled a lawsuit against Andrew out of court.
Federal prosecutors in New York revived the case against Epstein after stories by the Miami Herald in 2018 brought new attention to his crimes. He was arrested in 2019, but killed himself a month later.
