Alleged sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell may still be in what she describes as a filthy jail fit for Hannibal Lecter while she awaits trial, but the British socialite has won a very small victory – receiving $13.70 in court costs.
When an anonymous ‘Jane Doe’ who claimed Maxwell had groomed her to be abused and raped by deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein dropped a suit she had filed against Maxwell, the 59-year-old’s lawyer demanded Doe reimburse her court fees, which amounted to $5 for court docketing fees and $8.70 for “other costs,” charges apparently run up while reading documents online, according to Bloomberg.
Doe was 13 when she first met Maxwell according to her lawsuit, which claims the woman gained her trust by acting like an “older sister” to her, taking her shopping and to the cinema. Only gradually was Doe groomed to be sexually abused by Epstein, who allegedly raped her at age 17.
However, rather than try to see her case through alone, Doe ultimately joined a settlement alongside several other Epstein accusers, who were reportedly paid out over $50 million from a Victims Compensation Fund set up to deal with making restitutions to the convicted sex offender’s prey. The fund’s managers declined to reveal how many women had received the money, though they did pause payments from the fund in February, complaining of empty pockets.
Still attempting to secure bail for their wealthy client, Maxwell’s lawyers also filed papers this week complaining “vermin droppings fell from air vents” and that her entire cell smelled like raw sewage. After spending a week in those conditions, she was reportedly moved to another cell, where she and her lawyers continued to complain.
The jet-setter has repeatedly appealed to the judge to allow her out on bail until her trial comes in November. In February, she even promised to renounce her UK and French citizenships – and in December offered a whopping $28.5 million bail offer.
Judge Alison Nathan was not moved by the gestures, arguing that the socialite still posed a flight risk, due to her huge network of highly-placed ‘friends’, meaning she would potentially find a way to escape the country before her trial date.
While Maxwell was supposed to begin her trial in July, the addition of two new charges against her convinced Nathan to push the trial date up to November 29. If convicted, she faces 80 years in prison, though she has maintained her innocence despite dozens of allegations – just a few of which she will be tried upon in November.
Maxwell did win a small victory in March, when Judge Nathan agreed to redact certain parts of her criminal case owing to their “sensational and impure” nature. Given that she has been charged with eight counts related to sex trafficking of minors, the redacted material had to be especially grisly to be left out.
