THE mundane Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for grooming underage girls who would later be sexually abused by American millionaire Jeffrey Epstein, reports the New York Times. Epstein’s agent was also sentenced to pay a fine of 750,000 US dollars, the maximum allowed by law and which corresponds to about 712,000 euros.
“Maxwell is not being punished as the scapegoat for Epstein. But rather because of his role in the criminal conduct. He participated in some of the abuse and his conduct was egregious and predatory,” Judge Alison Nathan said. The magistrate also considered that the mundane “normalized” Epstein’s abuses and argued that a “substantial sentence” would send a “clear message” for those who commit sexual abuse and those who traffic in minors.
Whether rich, powerful, or totally unknown, no one is above the law.”
The socialite will appeal the sentence claiming to have been “villainized” and “tried in court by public opinion.”
In December of last year, the federal court in Manhattan found Maxwell guilty of the crimes of sex trafficking, transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sexual acts, and two counts of conspiracy. The prosecution team called for a sentence Between 30 and 55 years in prison for Ghislaine Maxwellwhich, in practice, would translate into perpetual, since the mundane he is currently 60 years old. The defense attorneys asked for a sanction between four years and three months to five years and three months in prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell convicted of seducing minors who would be abused by Jeffrey Epstein
Tuesday’s sentencing marked the end of the legal battle for sex crime victims by Jeffrey Epstein, abused as a teenager, between 1994 and 2004. With Epstein’s death in 2019, while awaiting trial, the culmination of the sexual abuse plot carried out by the former couple thus fell on Maxwell’s case.
It is my sincere wish to everyone in this room and to those outside the room that this day may bring an end to a terrible chapter.” “To those of you who spoke today and to those of you who did not speak, may this day help you come out of the darkness into the light.”
Jeffrey Epstein. The monster who needed famous friends (and a lot of money)
According to Sky News, during Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, four were victims who testified during the trial. This Tuesday, two other women decided to speak in court to explain the impact that the abuse of Epstein and Maxwell had on their lives: Virginia Giuffre (Prince Andrew’s prosecution), Annie Farmer, “Kate”, Teresa Helm, Sarah Ransome and Elizabeth Stein.
Virginia Giuffre’s statement was read by a legal representative of one of the most publicized victims of the trial: it was her complaint that resulted in the indictment of Prince Andrew. “I never would have met Jeffrey Epstein if it wasn’t for you.”said Virginia, for whom Maxwell “deserved to spend the rest of his life in a prison cell.” Annie Farmer said: “Maxwell had many opportunities to go to confession, but, instead, he continued to make decisions that did more damage.“.
For Elizabeth Stein, the time between the abuse and the trial is not enough to make it easier to talk about the crimes to which she was subjected. “[Os abusos de Epstein e Maxwell foram] so traumatic that to this day I can’t talk about them“, he declared in court. The victim also stated that She got pregnant and miscarried. She confessed not knowing who the father would be – “I’m not sure,” was the phrase she told the judges – given the high number of abuses to which she was subjected within the Epstein and Maxwell network.
You have broken me in many immeasurable ways, but you have not been able to break my spirit, nor have you extinguished my inner flame that now burns more than ever.
“Today is not a happy day,” declared, in turn, ‘Kate’, the fictitious name of one of the victims. “I am not pleased to be part of a world where this is necessary. I am proud to stand by these brave women and do whatever it takes to stop Ghislaine. [Maxwell].”
On Wednesday, according to The Guardian, the prosecution team claimed that “Ghislaine Maxwell has sexually exploited young teenagers for years, making it difficult to measure the magnitude of her crimes and the damage done to the victims.“.
Maxwell’s conduct was shockingly predatory,” the indictment continued. “[Ghislaine Maxwell] he was a dangerous, calculating and sophisticated criminal who preyed on vulnerable adolescents and lured young girls into sexual abuse.”
Who is Ghislaine Maxwell, the woman accused of helping Jeffrey Epstein?
Since his arrest in July 2020, Maxwell has been in the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center. The defense team claimed that Maxwell had been subject to “punitive and discriminatory treatment” in this prisonwhich included lockdown, “unjustified sleep deprivation” and “excessive” body scans in which “Mrs. Maxwell were portrayed in a wanton and insensitive manner.”
The judge recommended that the sentence be served in a federal minimum security prison in Danbury, Connecticutknown for serving as establish during the recording of the television series “Orange Is the New Black”.
Source: Observadora
