British socialite and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell has been offered up as a “scapegoat” for deceased millionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, her brother has claimed.
Ian Maxwell, 65, the son of British media tycoon Robert Maxwell and older brother of now-convicted sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, said that his sister is nothing more than a patsy for the sex crimes against children by Jeffrey Epstein, who allegedly killed himself in a New York prison cell in 2019.
“The man who was not on trial and should have been on trial – but escaped the ability of the prosecution to put him on trial because they lost him on their watch, which everyone has conveniently forgotten about – could not be tried,” Mr Maxwell said in an interview with Sky News.
“And therefore they had to find someone who could be tried. They chose Ghislaine Maxwell. They were perfectly entitled to do that.
“But the position the defence has taken – and that I continue to take – is that she was scapegoated in a process that was flawed from the start and she was not given a fair trial and she has not had justice.”
Mr Maxwell went on to profess that he believes Ghislaine was innocent of the charges levied against her, despite being found guilty of five of six counts of sexual exploitation and trafficking girls as young as fourteen years old for Epstein.
“I accept that these accusers were victims of Jeffrey Epstein. What I do not accept is that they were victims of Ghislaine Maxwell,” he said.
Ghislaine made a “a terrible, terrible judgement about Jeffrey Epstein,” Maxwell said, but added: “That is not a crime”.
Believing in his sister’s supposed innocence, Ian Maxwell downplayed the idea of her “flipping” on Epstein’s co-conspirators.
“We know, because the prosecution has said, that they have never made her any offer and she has never made them any offer,” Maxwell said.
“I don’t think that’s going to change. I don’t know what Ghislaine has to say about anyone else. Her position is that she did not participate or was aware of these terrible activities.
“So her logical position must be that’s to be continued, and therefore why is she suddenly going to start producing names and who knows what? So I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
During the trial, high profile figures on both sides of the Atlantic were alleged to have travelled on the millionaire pedophile’s infamous private jet, including Britain’s Prince Andrew, and former American presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.
It is believed that many more prominent people were connected to Epstein, however, the future of any other potential prosecutions is currently unclear.
This week, Prince Andrew, who is currently facing civil litigation in the United States, filed a motion to dismiss the suit from Virginia Giuffre on the grounds that she no longer resides in America and therefore the court should not have jurisdiction in the case.
Giuffre claims that the member of the British Royal Family sexually abused her at the age of 17 while she was being trafficked by Epstein. Prince Andrew has consistently proclaimed his innocence, saying in 2019: “It didn’t happen”.
In October, London’s Metropolitan Police announced that it would not pursue any criminal action against the Duke of York after reviewing evidence provided in the civil suit from Giuffre.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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