Ghislaine Maxwell will avoid first NYC court appearance on child sex trafficking charges after opting to appear remotely - as prosecutors push for a protective order to keep the identities of 'third parties' - including victims - secret
Ghislaine Maxwell will dodge her first public appearance in Manhattan’s Federal Court, after opting instead to appear remotely due to the COVID health crisis and ‘significant safety issues’ related to in-court proceedings,.
Jeffery Epstein’s former lover and alleged madam was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire last Thursday when FBI agents staged a sensational swoop after months of covert surveillance.
The 58-year-old who once partied with billionaires and presidents has been charged on six counts including two counts of Conspiracy to Entice Minors to Travel to Engage in Illegal Sex Acts, one of Conspiracy to Transport Minors with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity, one count of Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity and two counts of perjury.
Maxwell had been expected to appear at the United States District Court, Southern District of New York Friday afternoon.
But Judge Alison J Nathan issued an order late Monday stating that if she was willing to waive her right to appear in person the court would conduct the hearing remotely.
Ghislaine Maxwell has been transferred from a county jail in New Hampshire to a New York City jail. She is shown in 2016
The parties had until 9.00pm to file a joint letter informing the court of her decision.
When it came to it Maxwell’s attorney’s filed her decision almost an hour late, shortly before 10pm.
Addressing Judge Nathan in his letter, attorney Mark S Cohen explained, ‘We have been attempting to contact our client at the Metropolitan Detention Center; we were able to speak to her for the first time today just before 9.00pm this evening. She has agreed to waive her physical presence for the proceedings.’
Due to protocols at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, where Maxwell is currently being held without bail, the order read, ‘the Defendant could be produced by video at either 9.00am on July 9, 2020 or sometime during the morning of July 14, 2020.’
Maxwell’s prospective prosecution comes after years of attempting to evade law enforcement and those years in hiding will be used against her by prosecutors who have made clear their intent to oppose bail under any conditions.
Judge Nathan must formally approve the decision but the letter states that after conferring Monday evening the Government and Maxwell’s attorneys have agreed to push the hearing date to the morning of July 14.
Further details are expected in a joint proposed briefing schedule Tuesday.
With her vast network of powerful friends with deep pockets, and possibly dark secrets, the US Attorney’s office has argued that she presents a clear flight risk.
Maxwell - Jeffery Epstein’s former lover and alleged madam - was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire last Thursday. The pair are pictured in 2005
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where Maxwell is and where she is awaiting her first court appearance
She could also represent the prosecutor’s most valuable asset if, as has been suggested, she is willing to give up the identities of those who took advantage of Epstein’s trafficked and underage victims.
As exclusively revealed by DailyMail.com, Maxwell has a stash of evidence including twisted sex tapes that, according to one former friend, she too has kept as ‘insurance’ for a day such as this.
Maxwell was transferred from the county jail in New Hampshire where she was taken on her arrest to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center Monday.
It is not clear exactly how or when that transfer took place but a helicopter was seen landing on top of the building Monday morning and taking off again shortly after.
Prosecutors have asked the judge for a protective order which will protect the identities of third parties involved in the case, at least until her arraignment.
They are refusing to say whether the jail is where Ghislaine will be kept if she is denied bail - which they have asked for.
In a letter to the judge on Sunday, US Attorney Audrey Strauss wrote that that a protective order 'will be necessary to facilitate the production of discovery while also protecting, among other things, the privacy and identity of third parties, including the victims of the conduct charged in the indictment'.
It will apply to both victims and others who may be involved.
Maxwell is accused of procuring young girls for Jeffrey Epstein, the late pedophile financier, and also with having sex with them herself.
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Ghislaine will be kept until at least Friday, is a male and female prison for inmates of all levels.
There are high security divisions within it. High profile past inmates include the rapper Tekashi 6ix9nine, Allison Mack - who was charged as part of the case against the Nxivm sex cult - 'pharma bro' Martin Shkreli and Al Sharpton, who served 90 days in 2001 for trespassing.
It is also where Muslim men were detained after 9/11 as part of what became known as a 'sweep' of suspects.
The men filed a complaint that they'd been abused in the jail and it spurned a Department of Justice investigation.
A handful of inmates filed a lawsuit against the prison claiming they were being kept in 'inhumane' conditions and were only allowed out of their cell for 30 minutes at a time.
Once they were in common areas, they complained that it was impossible to observe social distancing and that they were at risk of coronavirus.
At the start of the year, the heat in the prison went off for several days, forcing inmates to huddle in their beds for warmth.
It is also where an inmate died recently after being pepper sprayed by corrections guards.
Prosecutors are refusing to say whether or not it is where she will be held for the duration of the case.
They have asked the judge not to grant her bail, citing her extensive list of international connections and deep pockets as signs that she is a flight risk.
She also successfully evaded the world's media for the best part of a year.
She faces 35 years behind bars if convicted.
The charges relate to her alleged grooming of three underage girls between 1994 and 1997.
The girls say she procured them for Epstein then befriended them to make them feel comfortable around her, before subjecting them to sexual servitude.
On occasions, Maxwell is accused of sexually abusing the children herself by taking part in group sex with Epstein and the girls.
She is also facing two counts of perjury for allegedly lying in a 2016 deposition while being sued by a different woman who claims to have been abused.
Maxwell has not yet been seen since she was taken into custody.
The Special Housing Unit within the detention center. It's unclear which part of the prison she will be held in. The prison can hold 1,600 inmates
Past inmates of the jail include Nxivm's Allison Mack (left) and rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine. They have both now been released
She has been a ghost since Epstein's suicide last year.
The FBI had been watching her in New Hampshire, where she had been for several months, they said.
She is yet to enter a plea to the charges or make any form of public comment.
In civil court, she has denied allegations by other women that she abused them or facilitated Epstein's abuse of them.
Maxwell's network of well-heeled friends includes Prince Andrew, who has been accused of sleeping with a 17-year-old girl in London after being introduced to her by Maxwell in 2001. The Prince has vehemently and repeatedly denied the claims.
It remains unclear if Maxwell knew she was about to be arrested or if her lawyers have tried to make any type of deal with prosecutors.
Many of Epstein's victims say there are dozens of people who helped him abuse them, and that they should all be brought to justice.
Maxwell was arrested on Thursday at this property in Bradford, New Hampshire, where she'd been laying low for months
Ghislaine Maxwell will avoid first NYC court appearance on child sex trafficking charges after opting to appear remotely - as prosecutors push for a protective order to keep the identities of 'third parties' - including victims - secret
![Ghislaine Maxwell will avoid first NYC court appearance on child sex trafficking charges after opting to appear remotely - as prosecutors push for a protective order to keep the identities of 'third parties' - including victims - secret]()
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July 07, 2020
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