NEW YORK (AP) – Seven women who say Ghislaine Maxwell helped Jeffrey Epstein steal the innocence of their youth and poison the promise of their future ask a judge to consider their pain as she decides what jail time she will face Tuesday speak out to the incarcerated British woman.
Their statements were placed in public file late Friday by Manhattan prosecutors, who have asked U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan to sentence Maxwell to 30 to 55 years in prison for “monstrous” crimes that result in a December conviction for sex trafficking for a socialite who has been in prison since her arrest in July 2020.
Four women testified at Maxwell’s month-long trial, where she described sexual assaults on teenage girls from 1994 to 2004 by Epstein and Maxwell at Epstein’s mansions and estates in Manhattan, New Mexico, Florida, and the Virgin Islands.
In a statement, Annie Farmer, who testified at the trial and spoke at Epstein’s bail hearing before committing suicide in August 2019 while awaiting a sex-trafficking trial, said Maxwell’s lack of remorse and her repeated lies about victims “a long battle for enforce justice”. that felt like a black hole sucking up our precious time, energy and well-being.”
Attorney Bobbi Sternheim including the victim statements in a submission to the judge Friday after the defense asked for a sentence of no more than five years, but she heavily redacted parts by asking the judge to ignore some completely because they were not directly part of the case that resulted in Maxwell’s conviction.
Prosecutors, however, said no redactions were required or necessary because privacy concerns belonged to victims and no one asked to seal their statements. They added that “a fair trial is not protected by withholding statements from the public about the impact of victims.” Three victims will be allowed to speak at the sentencing.
Included were nine graphic photos of Sarah Ransome taken in a hospital bed after two suicide attempts that she blames for the trauma of more than half a year spent as a “sex toy” for Epstein and Maxwell and others that left her so upset that she once considered jumping off a cliff into shark-infested waters off Epstein’s sprawling Virgin Islands estate.
Ransome, who wrote a book “Silenced No More” and traveled from her home in England to observe Maxwell’s trial, said she was stopped by “Maxwell and his company” from taking the plunge just before jumping, but that on that moment “that extremely risky escape seemed more appealing than being raped again.”
One woman, “Kate,” a former British model who testified at the trial, spoke of the “silent screams” in the minds of pre-grown girls as Maxwell and Epstein flashed wealth and ties to famous and powerful people before becoming subjected to sexual abuse and then fear, so that they would never disobey their lustful quests.
Calling Maxwell “dangerous and devious,” Maria Farmer said her encounter with the couple and sexual assault by Epstein during a trip to Ohio cost her a promising career as a recording artist and still makes her feel unsafe outside, firmly convinced that Maxwell will harm her “if she ever has a way.” She is Annie Farmer’s sister.
Another, Virginia Giuffre, said Maxwell “opened the door to hell” as she joked that she was like a new mother to dozens of girls and young women she fed to her financier boyfriend and later boss. “Ghislaine, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you used your femininity to betray us, and you led us all through it.”
She added: “You could have ended the rapes, the assaults, the sickening manipulations that you have staged, witnessed and even participated in. You could have called the authorities and reported that you were part of something terrible. … Ghislaine, you deserve to spend the rest of your life in a prison cell. You deserve to be locked in a cage forever, just like you locked up your victims.”
The AP does not identify people who claim to have been victims of sexual assault unless they have consented to be identified.