Ghislaine Maxwell's complaint about her treatment in jail
Former socialite and ex-girlfriend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, has reportedly complained to authorities that she is receiving worse treatment than other inmates while in jail. She is currently awaiting trial after being charged with six offences relating to the abuse of multiple underage girls, all of which she has strongly denied having an involvement with.
As reported by The New York Times, Maxwell's legal team have sent a letter to a US district judge objecting to her being placed in "uniquely onerous" conditions, under 24-hour watch in a private cell (rather than being able to mix with others) and numerous body scans. Her lawyer has said she ought to be treated like any other pre-trial detainee and that her treatment is a reaction to Epstein's death while in prison (which many believe was not actually by suicide).
The US authorities to whom Maxwell's team complained have rejected the claims, saying she has been isolated from other inmates for her own safety and that it was appropriate to closely monitor new inmates facing a "strong likelihood" of spending a lengthy amount of time in prison.
Specifically, Maxwell has been charged with:
Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
Enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
Transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
Maxwell was finally apprehended and arrested by the FBI in July this year, after a global manhunt.“Maxwell slithered off to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire... We moved when we were ready and the arrest happened [this morning] without incident," said FBI assistant director Bill Sweeney, during a subsequent press conference.
Recently, as the case is being further investigated, court documents were unsealed showing an email exchange between Maxwell and Epstein. In one such message, the multi-millionaire paedophile (and former associate of Prince Andrew and Donald Trump) tells her that she's "done nothing wrong".
The conversation, that took place in 2015, shows Maxwell attempting to distance herself from any romantic relationship with Epstein (who by that point was already convicted of procuring an underage girl for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute). She writes, "I would appreciate it if Shelley would come out and say she was your g'friend - I think she was from end 99 to 2002." It is currently not known who Shelley is.
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