Ghislaine Maxwell could be condemned to spend the rest of her life behind bars when she is sentenced Tuesday for helping pedophile Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse young girls — with some of her accusers saying she deserves to be “trapped in a cage forever.”
Seven Maxwell accusers submitted statements ahead of the hearing detailing the horrors they say the disgraced British socialite inflicted on them, and some of the women will be in Manhattan federal court when she learns her fate.
Prosecutors have asked US District Judge Alison Nathan to slap Maxwell with between 30 to 55 years in prison — what could be a life sentence for the 60-year-old convicted sex-trafficker.
“As part of a disturbing agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed, and abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury and privilege,” prosecutors wrote.
“In her wake, Maxwell left her victims permanently scarred with emotional and psychological injuries,” they said. “That damage can never be undone, but it can be accounted for in crafting a just sentence for Maxwell’s crimes.”
Maxwell’s defense attorneys, meanwhile, have begged for leniency, saying she should get no more than four to five years, while probation officials have recommended 20.
The Oxford-educated heiress, who has been held in a federal lockup since her July 2020 arrest, was convicted in December of sex-trafficking and other crimes following a month-long trial.
Prosecutors convinced jurors that Maxwell was a “sophisticated predator” who exploited vulnerable girls and groomed them to be abused by pedophile financier Epstein for a period of time.
At least three accusers who submitted statements have been approved to speak at the sentencing, including Virginia Giuffre, who has long accused Maxwell and Epstein of sex-trafficking her to Britain’s Prince Andrew. Two others, Annie Farmer and “Kate,” a former model, testified at Maxwell’s trial.
“Ghislaine, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, you used your femininity to betray us, and you led us all through it,” Giuffre wrote in her statement.
“You could have put an end to the rapes, the molestations, the sickening manipulations that you arranged, witnessed and even took part in. You could’ve called the authorities and reported that you were a part of something awful,” she continued. “Ghislaine, you deserve to spend the rest of your life in a jail cell. You deserve to be trapped in a cage forever, just like you trapped your victims.”
Harriett Jagger, a wealthy former fashion executive at the magazines Vogue and Tatler, will be the only friend to vouch for Maxwell in court, according to reports. A woman locked up with Maxwell at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center submitted a letter in her support to the court, calling her “kind and genuine.”
Maxwell has been on suicide watch since Friday and hasn’t been able to “properly prepare” for the hearing because prison officials abruptly put her in solitary confinement, her lawyers have claimed, while adding their client isn’t actually suicidal.
Once accustomed to the high life, Maxwell has griped about conditions at the prison and claimed her life has been threatened during her nearly two-year long stay there.
Federal prosecutors have refuted those claims, and characterized her complaints about the conditions in lockup as “blatant lies” in court documents.
In their damning sentencing memo, the feds said Maxwell played an “instrumental role in the horrific sexual abuse of multiple young teenage girls” between 1994 and 2004.
Maxwell’s attorneys have argued that she is being used as a scapegoat for the government’s inability to prosecute Epstein, who killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Sara Ransome, a former Epstein sex slave who tried to swim shark-infested waters to escape his grasp, said Maxwell deserves to die in prison.
“Maxwell is today the same woman I met almost 20 years ago – incapable of compassion or common human decency,” she wrote in a statement to the court. “Because of her wealth, social status, and connections, she believes herself beyond reproach and above the law.”
Ransome’s statement also included nine images of her in the hospital following two separate suicide attempts. She said she tried to take her own life after being used as a “sex toy” by Epstein and Maxwell and others.
“To Ghislaine I say, ‘You broke me in unfathomable ways. But you didn’t break is my spirit, nor did you dampen my internal flame that now burns brighter than ever before!’” Ransome wrote.
Another Epstein accuser, Maria Farmer, Annie’s sister, said she still fears Maxwell, who she called “dangerous and devious.”
“I never feel safe outside as a result of the massive trauma from being held captive…Her threats have never left my mind and I believe she will harm me if she ever has a way.”
Juliette Bryant, who said she was raped on Epstein’s private island three times a day, spoke plainly in a court statement asking Maxwell to get the maximum sentence.
“Simply put, Ghislaine Maxwell is a monster,” she wrote.