Ghislaine Maxwell Hit with More Charges in Sex Crimes Case

Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged madame of deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, was hit with two fresh charges by U.S. prosecutors as part of her sex crimes case on Monday.

CNBC reports:

The new counts filed in the Southern District of New York accuse Maxwell of sex trafficking conspiracy and sex trafficking of a minor. Maxwell, who is awaiting trial on charges that she recruited underage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein, was arrested in New Hampshire on July 2. She has pleaded not guilty in the case. In addition to charges related to allegedly recruiting and grooming several underage girls for her ex-boyfriend Epstein in the 1990s, Maxwell also is charged with perjury for allegedly lying during a deposition for a lawsuit filed by an Epstein accuser.

The development comes after Maxwell was denied bail for the third time, failing to convince a judge to let her leave her New York City jail cell in exchange for renouncing both her British and French citizenships as part of an effort to “eliminate any opportunity for her to seek refuge in those countries.” Additionally, the disgraced British socialite offered her assets to be monitored by a former federal judge. 

U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan granted the wish of prosecutors to reject Maxwell’s request, stating in a court filing: “[T]he Court concludes that none of the Defendant’s new arguments and proposals disturb its conclusion that the Defendant poses a risk of flight and that there are no combination of conditions that can reasonably assure her appearance.”

Maxwell’s bail requests were spurned in July and December 2020, with Judge Nathan citing her status as a flight risk. The judge wrote at the time:

The Court … finds that the Defendant’s proposed bail conditions would not reasonably assure her appearance at future proceedings. The Court concludes that none of the new information that the Defendant presented in support of her application has a material bearing on the Court’s determination that she poses a flight risk.

The Daily Mail reported in October 2020 that prison guards strip-search Maxwell every three hours amid concerns she could commit suicide, a friend claimed in the U.K. tabloid.