Ghislaine Maxwell denied bail in sex abuse case - Al Jazeera English

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US judge rejects $28.5m bail package for Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, who was arrested in July.

A US judge on Monday denied bail to Ghislaine Maxwell, citing the risk the British socialite might flee from charges she assisted in the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking of girls.

US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan said federal prosecutors persuaded her that Maxwell “poses a flight risk” despite her proposed $28.5m bail package, and should remain jailed because “no conditions of release” reasonably assured she would appear in court.

Maxwell, 59, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and groom girls as young as 14 years old for sex in the mid-1990s, and not guilty to perjury for denying her involvement under oath.

She has been jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following her July 2 arrest at her New Hampshire home, where prosecutors said she was hiding out.

Audrey Strauss, acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, points to a photo of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell during a news conference on July 2, 2020 [File: John Minchillo/AP Photo]

The proposed bail package included $22.5m posted by Maxwell and her husband, as well as home confinement with electronic monitoring and 24-hour guard to ensure Maxwell remained safe and would not escape.

Maxwell’s lawyers wrote in Manhattan federal court filings that prosecutors were “entirely mistaken” and relying on “unsupported innuendo” in their attempt to dismiss the significance of Ghislaine Maxwell’s marriage. Her husband’s name was redacted in court papers.

A deposition that British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell gave in 2016 relating to her dealings with the late Jeffrey Epstein is pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City [File: Carlo Allegri]

Maxwell said she wanted to stay in New York to clear her name, while her lawyers objected to jail conditions including invasive searches and surveillance by flashlight-toting guards who woke her every 15 minutes to ensure she was still breathing.

But Nathan, who rejected a $5m bail package for Maxwell in July, said none of the new arguments had a “material bearing” on whether Maxwell was a flight risk.

In opposing bail, prosecutors cited Maxwell’s abilities to hide her wealth and evade capture, and the prospect she might flee to France or the United Kingdom, where she holds citizenships and they said she might elude extradition.

Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. Her trial is scheduled for July 12, 2021.

Epstein, 66, killed himself in a Manhattan jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Former US Attorney General William Barr criticised errors by jail personnel that he said contributed to Epstein’s death.

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