Ghislaine Maxwell seeks bail, citing coronavirus, and denies Jeffrey
Epstein charges
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[July 11, 2020]
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ghislaine Maxwell, the
longtime associate of late financier Jeffrey Epstein, on Friday
forcefully denied charges she lured underage girls for him to sexually
abuse and said she deserves bail, citing the risk she might contract the
coronavirus in jail.
Maxwell, 58, filed her request in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan,
eight days after being arrested in New Hampshire, where authorities said
she had been hiding at a sprawling property she bought while shielding
her identity.
A spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan
declined to comment.
Maxwell has been housed since Monday at the Metropolitan Detention
Center, a Brooklyn jail.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Jul/11/images/ads/current/chuckglass_sdadaily_HG_2020.png)
She said her detention there put her at "significant risk" of
contracting the coronavirus, after 55 inmates and staff had tested
positive for COVID-19 through June 30.
Maxwell faces six criminal charges, including four related to
transporting minors for illegal sexual acts, and two for perjury in
depositions about her role in Epstein's abuses.
In Friday's filing, Maxwell said she "vigorously denies the charges" and
intends to fight them.
Her arraignment is on July 14, and prosecutors want her detained until
trial. Maxwell is the daughter of the late British publishing magnate
Robert Maxwell.
Epstein was found hanged last Aug. 10 in jail at age 66, in a death
ruled a suicide.
He had before his arrest socialized over the years with many prominent
people including Britain's Prince Andrew, U.S. President Donald Trump
and former President Bill Clinton.
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![](../images/071120PICS/news_f11.jpg)
Ghislaine Maxwell, longtime associate of accused sex trafficker
Jeffrey Epstein, speaks at a news conference on oceans and
sustainable development at the United Nations in New York, U.S. June
25, 2013 in this screengrab taken from United Nations TV file
footage. UNTV/Handout via REUTERS
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MEDIA CRUSH
Maxwell's proposed bail package includes a $5 million bond, the
surrender of her passports, "stringent" travel restrictions, and
home detention with electronic monitoring.
She said she will continue needing security guards to ensure her
safety.
Maxwell also maintained she is not a flight risk, claiming to have
remained in the United States since Epstein's arrest.
She "did not flee, but rather left the public eye, for the entirely
understandable purpose of protecting herself and those close to her
from the crush of media and online attention and its very real
harms," the filing said.
Friday's filing also raised several legal challenges to the
indictment, including that Epstein's 2007 nonprosecution agreement
with the U.S. government covered "any potential co-conspirators."
In seeking Maxwell's continued detention, prosecutors called her an
"extreme risk" of flight because of the possible long prison term,
her wealth, her multiple passports and citizenships, and her having
"absolutely no reason to stay."
The case is U.S. v. Maxwell, U.S. District Court, Southern District
of New York, No. 20-cr-00330.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler,
Noeleen Walder and Matthew Lewis)
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