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In December of last year, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted on child sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell was a longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, the infamous financier and sex offender who provided befriended countless billionaires, celebrities politicians, many of whom he entertained on his private island.
Epstein died in his prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.
In a Manhattan courtroom today, Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison for allegedly assisting Epstein in grooming and sexually abusing numerous young girls.
Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking charges in Manhattan federal court on Dec. 29
During her three-week trial, four women took the stand to testify that Epstein had sexually assaulted them when they were between the ages of 14 and 17.
The women further alleged that they were groomed by Maxwell, who also took part in the abuse on multiple occasions.
Several victim impact statements were read in court during today’s sentencing hearing.
“Maxwell is today the same woman I met almost 20 years ago — incapable of compassion or common human decency,” a victim named Sarah Ransome told the court.
“Because of her wealth, social status, and connections, she believes herself beyond reproach and above the law,” Ransome continued.
“Sentencing her to the rest of her life in prison will not change her, but it will give survivors a slight sense of justice and help us as we continue to work to recover from the sex-trafficking hell she perpetrated.”
“When a boundary is crossed or an expectation violated, you tell yourself, ‘Someone who cares enough about me to do all these nice things surely wouldn’t also be trying to harm me,’” said Annie Farmer, who had previously testified that both she and her sister were abused by Maxwell.
“This pattern of thinking is insidious, so these seeds of self-doubt took root even as I learned my sister had also been harmed by them and came to find out years later that many others had been exploited.”
Prior to being sentenced, Maxwell addressed the court and apologized to her victims.
She said that she hopes her “conviction and harsh incarceration brings you peace and finality.”
“My [association] with Epstein will permanently stain me. It is the biggest regret of my life [that] I ever met him,” Maxwell said, according to Buzzfeed News.
Prosecutors called for Maxwell to be sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
In explaining her decision to go with a lighter sentence, Judge Alison J. Nathan stated that she was cautious to avoid punishing Maxwell “in place of Epstein or as a proxy for Epstein.”
A former media mogul, Maxwell has been tied to Epstein for nearly 30 years.
When their romantic relationship ended, Maxwell began assisting in Epstein’s child sex trafficking ring.
She was arrested in July of 2020 after investigators alleged that Maxwell was “key to the whole operation.”
In the years since his mysterious death, Epstein has been the subject of countless conspiracy theories, and it’s unlikely that the many questions surrounding his demise will ever be answered.
But hopefully, today’s sentencing will bring the victims some small degree of closure.
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