Published 13:58 IST, July 15th 2020
Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty, denied bail in Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case
Ghislaine Maxwell, a UK socialite and friend of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been denied bail while facing charges of trafficking minors.
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Ghislaine Maxwell, a UK socialite and friend of late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been denied bail while facing charges of trafficking minors. US District Judge Alison Nathan rejected Maxwell's request on July 14 citing risks of her fleeing. Therefore, Maxwell, who has pleaded guilty, will now remain behind bars until her trial begins on July 12, 2021. At a hearing via video link, federal prosecutors said that she faced an ‘extreme’ flight risk and therefore demanded her being under custody until trial begins next year.
The 58-year-old is being held without bail since July 2 after she was arrested from a secluded private property in New Hampshire. According to reports, prosecutors have also said that Maxwell refused to open the doors for the FBI agents, who then busted through to find her in an interior room. In the latest hearing, the US District Judge noted that even the most restrictive form of release would not be enough to ensure that she will not flee especially when the charges that Maxwell is facing would result in over 35 years in prison.
Ghislaine Maxwell got emotional on rejection
Media reports have stated that when Nathan was giving the reasons behind rejecting her bail plea, Maxwell ‘dropped her head repeatedly and appeared dejected’. Moreover, at one instance during the virtual hearing, the 58-year-old associate of a late convicted sex offender was seen wiping a tear from underneath one eye. She is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn for more than a week.
Maxwell’s lawyers had pushed for her release on a $5 million bail and reportedly said that she ‘vigorously denies the charges, intends to fight them and is entitled to the presumption of innocence’. Furthermore, as per the court papers, her lawyers have argued that Jefferey Epstein’s death had triggered the media for ‘substituting her for Epstein’. Even though, they added, “she’d had no contact with Epstein for more than a decade, had never been charged with a crime or been found liable in any civil litigation, and has always denied any allegations of claimed misconduct.”
Inputs/Image: AP
13:59 IST, July 15th 2020