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Posted on 07/16/2025 8:26:47 AM PDT by thegagline
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that GHISLANE MAXWELL was sentenced today in Manhattan federal court by United States Circuit Judge Alison J. Nathan to 240 months in prison for her role in a scheme to sexual exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade.
MAXWELL was previously found guilty on December 29, 2021, following a one-month jury trial, of conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to participate in illegal sex acts, transporting a minor to participate in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking of a minor.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Today’s sentence holds Ghislaine Maxwell accountable for perpetrating heinous crimes against children. This sentence sends a strong message that no one is above the law and it is never too late for justice. We again express our gratitude to Epstein and Maxwell’s victims for their courage in coming forward, in testifying at trial, and in sharing their stories as part of today’s sentencing.”
According to the allegations in the Indictment, court documents, and evidence presented at trial:
From at least 1994, up to and including in or about 2004, GHISLAINE MAXWELL assisted, facilitated, and participated in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom, and ultimately abuse victims known to MAXWELL and Epstein to be under the age of 18. The victims were as young as 14 years old when they were groomed and abused by MAXWELL and Epstein, both of whom knew that their victims were in fact minors. As a part and in furtherance of their scheme to abuse minor victims, MAXWELL and Epstein enticed and caused minor victims to travel to Epstein’s residences in different states, which MAXWELL knew and intended would result in their grooming for and subjection to sexual abuse.
MAXWELL enticed and groomed minor girls to be abused in multiple ways. For example, MAXWELL attempted to befriend certain victims by asking them about their lives, their schools, and their families, and taking them to the movies or on shopping trips. MAXWELL also acclimated victims to Epstein’s conduct simply by being present for victim interactions with Epstein, which put victims at ease by providing the assurance and comfort of an adult woman who seemingly approved of Epstein’s behavior. Additionally, Epstein offered to help some victims by paying for travel and/or educational opportunities, and MAXWELL encouraged certain victims to accept Epstein’s assistance. As a result, victims were made to feel indebted and believed that MAXWELL and Epstein were trying to help them. MAXWELL also normalized and facilitated sexual abuse for a victim by discussing sexual topics, undressing in front of the victim, being present when the victim was undressed, and encouraging the victim to massage Epstein.
As MAXWELL and Epstein intended, these grooming behaviors left minor victims vulnerable and susceptible to sexual abuse by Epstein. MAXWELL was then present for certain sexual encounters between minor victims and Epstein, such as interactions where a minor victim was undressed, and ultimately was present for sex acts perpetrated by Epstein on minor victims. That abuse included sexualized massages during which a minor victim was fully or partially nude, as well as group sexualized massages of Epstein involving a minor victim where MAXWELL was present. In some instances, MAXWELL participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims.
Ultimately minor victims were subjected to sexual abuse that included, among other things, the touching of a victim’s breasts or genitals, placing a sex toy such as a vibrator on a victim’s genitals, directing a victim to touch Epstein while he masturbated, and directing a victim to touch Epstein’s genitals. MAXWELL and Epstein’s victims were groomed or abused at Epstein’s residences in New York, Florida, and New Mexico, as well as MAXWELL’s residence in London, England.
In the earlier phase of the conspiracy, from at least approximately 1994 through approximately 2001, MAXWELL and Epstein identified vulnerable girls, typically from single-mother households and difficult financial circumstances. This earlier phase required the defendant and Epstein to identify one girl at a time to target for grooming and abuse. In the later phase, from approximately 2001 until at least approximately 2004, MAXWELL and Epstein enticed and recruited, and caused to be enticed and recruited, minor girls to visit Epstein’s Palm Beach Residence to engage in sex acts with Epstein, after which Epstein, MAXWELL, or another employee of Epstein’s would give the victims hundreds of dollars in cash. MAXWELL and Epstein encouraged one or more of those victims to travel with Epstein with the intention that the victim engage in sex acts with Epstein. Moreover, and in order to maintain and increase his supply of victims, MAXWELL and Epstein also paid certain victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused by Epstein. In this way, MAXWELL and Epstein created a network of underage victims for Epstein to sexually exploit. * * *
In addition to the prison sentence, MAXWELL, 60, was sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $750,00 fine.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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Here is a long, but enlightening article about this situation. Epstein was kind of a white P. Diddy.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/05/14/jeffrey-epstein-investigation-women-487157
... and this is precisely why the "non-existent Epstein List that Bondi said she had on her desk" can not, should not and -- with my anger in check for the moment -- must not be released.
I am furious that the DOJ, FBI and top members of the Trump administration -- with the obvious complicity of the President -- are publicly comfortable with not identifying, arresting and punishing severely those on the purportedly "non-existent Epstein List that Bondi said she had on her desk" who committed the child rapes, but I must accept that there is most likely no way to distinguish the names of the rapists from the names of those on the purported "non-existent Epstein list that Bondi said she had on her desk" merely because they associated with Epstein. Their names and reputations would be unjustly destroyed in a heartbeat.
It's just so very difficult to accept that the victims of child rape will not see their abusers face justice.
In cities across America, the “johns” or customers are always promoted in the media when caught in a prostitution sting operation.
Is it because these young boys and girls were minors to be used and exploited sexually by the male and female customers of Epstein the reason we are not finding out the names of the “johns” or customers?
So, it sounds like you are willing to accept that Epstein and Maxwell were finding young girls (maybe legal / maybe not), bringing them to his island where other powerful men would have some type of physical interactions with them...? Does that sound right?
Now add to that the fact that Maxwell’s father was a notorious Mossad agent, Epstein had connections to Israeli intelligence through Ehud Barak and Acosta said he “belonged to intelligence”.
Do you see where this is more that just a sex trafficking case? Do you see why maybe it is being shut down for reasons that don’t have anything to do with who is or isn’t on a pretend list that doesn’t even exist?
There were phone numbers of influential people in his phone list.
There just wasn’t some specially compiled list of people all sorted into “services provided” and itemized details or whatever it is people were thinking he had, at least jot in a nice tidy package that could be handed out like a flyer.
Instead there was a rat’s nest of stuff requiring investigators to sort through a lot of junk to find out who was around when the known girls were abused and if there was any evidence involving them actually knowing what was going on when it did.
... and Ghislaine is still alive.
Just knowing Epstein or even traveling with him is not illegal to my knowledge. But is there evidence other adults (besides Ghislaine) linked to Epstein committed crimes?
Trump admin has files supposedly including video. No need to release any porn videos. At some point DoJ should just answer some basic questions -
1. do the videos (or other evidence) with children involve just Epstein/Ghislaine or other adults?
2. If other adults can DoJ identify who those other adults are?
3. If other adults are identifiable that committed crimes is there sufficient evidence to prosecute these other adults?
It seems the Trump admin could just communicate a little more and defuse this mess.
Meantime and forever more, those that done the sexual abusing roam wide and free. They also enjoy great riches and exert political power.
Does this mean she will soon be pardoned because none of this really happened?
Well, I'd say "acknowledge" rather than "accept", and add at "at least some" in front of "powerful men". I absolutely do not agree that all or even a majority of the men who went there -- many with their wives according to records -- did anything inappropriate with other women.
Now add to that the fact that Maxwell’s father was a notorious Mossad agent, Epstein had connections to Israeli intelligence through Ehud Barak and Acosta said he “belonged to intelligence”.
Okay....
Do you see where this is more that just a sex trafficking case? Do you see why maybe it is being shut down for reasons that don’t have anything to do with who is or isn’t on a pretend list that doesn’t even exist?
Yes. BUT, I think that two distinct ideas or programs are getting mixed up here, and it is important to keep them straight.
I do NOT believe that Mossad had anything to do with the girl operation, for a variety of reasons that I'd be happy to expand upon if necessary. I also think the blackmail angle doesn't make sense.
I would acknowledge it is possible that Mossad had some kind of financial relationship or uses for Epstein relating to some of his clients or ability to move money -- again, that's "clients" in the financial rather than sexual sense. Or that the CIA was using him for some of that also.
How extensive that was, or even if it existed in fact...I don't know. Could have been for just a few discrete transactions, or nothing at all.
But here's the thing -- I don't much care about that, and I certainly don't have any desire to see our intelligence operations or that of our allies exposed for just financial/money laundering reasons.
I mean, suppose Epstein had the money laundering connections that enabled Mossad to fund things like the exploding cell phone assembly operation without it being traceable back to them. Or any number of other "good guy" operations I'm glad they pulled off. If Epstein was the financial conduct for some of that, why would I want to see it exposed?
I'm not saying that IS the case. I'm just saying that I don't have some burning desire to see every intelligence operation exposed just because it may have had some connection with Epstein.
14 years old? hope their parents are prosecuted too then. These chickadees needed their parents to get them passports.
I think those are fair questions. I think the answers may not be easy, but that they could at least address those issues in some way.
The only caveat may be that they don't want to give answers suggesting that the women not wanting to get involved are the problem, because that might focus more negative attention on them. So that's kind of a touchy issue.
Don't need a passport to go to the Virgin Islands because it is a U.S. territory. And if he's flying them there in a private plane....
From what I've read, it seems most of these girls were kind of "lost" -- a fair number of them were homeless/living on the street and so were outside the control of their parents and easy prey. That also suggests that some of them may have sufficiently tarnished pasts that they really want to stay as far out of the limelight as possible. And that likely makes prosecution and identification of other men much more difficult.
BS.
Correct, this is all hearsay unless there are recordings of these people making a verbal contract for services with a person under 18 years of age. Which most likely there is not. They were just doing favors for older gentlemen. No money was exchanged.
From 2022:
A French modeling agent linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his prison cell on Saturday, the Paris prosecutor's office told NBC News.
It appeared that Jean-Luc Brunel 75, “died by suicide because he was discovered dead from hanging himself with his sheets,”
Jean-Luc was supplying girls to Epstein.
I know I have read that Virginia Giuffree (sp?) dad met Epstein and thought going off with him and becoming a masseuse was a great idea. NOW he’s crying the blues because it all came to the surface.
and some of these girls went to posh schools where Ghislane staked them out.
so while I am sure you are correct that some of these kids were street kids- some still had active parents.
Thanks for posting to jog our memories. As another FReeper commented, reading through it I don’t see mention of other people engaging in sex acts with the minors (besides Epstein and his employees).
“The only caveat may be that they don’t want to give answers suggesting that the women not wanting to get involved are the problem, because that might focus more negative attention on them. So that’s kind of a touchy issue.”
Sure. Then just say so in general terms. I know they have already said there is nothing left to prosecute but it seems a bit more info would be helpful.
There is a large middle ground between releasing porn videos and releasing nothing.
I think the primary reason they can't go any further is that they can't get any more cooperation from the women, either in terms of authenticating videos, identifying other men involved, etc.. The women want nothing more to do with it and I can't blame them because there's no upside for them.
But I also think Bondi/the Administration doesn't want to say that publicly because it may be taken as "victim-blaming".
So, I'm not quite sure there is much space remaining between Bondi saying "we don't have enough evidence to prosecute any else" and "we can't get enough witness cooperation to prosecute". Maybe there is, but it seems like a really thin tightrope.
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