Ghislaine Maxwell turns on Jeffrey Epstein in address to court during her sentencing
Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell turned on Jeffrey Epstein Tuesday, telling the court the late pedophile was “a manipulative, cunning and controlling man.”
Maxwell, 60, spoke during her sentencing in Manhattan federal court, facing her victims and admitting she was “guilty of helping” Epstein commit the crimes — before a judge slapped her with 20 years behind bars for helping him groom underage girls to sexually abuse.
“To you, to you, all the victims who came in court and those outside I am sorry for the pain that you experienced,” Maxwell said. “I hope my conviction and harsh incarceration brings you closure.”
Maxwell, Epstein’s onetime girlfriend, was also ordered to pay a $750,000 fine for her role grooming young girls who described being drawn into a world full of rape and sexual abuse.
Before her punishment was delivered, Maxwell acknowledged that her friendship with the sick financier — who killed himself behind bars in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges — will “forever and permanently” stain her.
“I believe that Jeffrey Epstein was a manipulative, cunning and controlling man who lived a profoundly compartmentalized life and fooled all of those in his orbit,” she said.
Follow the New York Post’s live updates of Ghislaine Maxwell’s prison sentencing.
“It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein,” Maxwell said adding Epstein “should have been here before all of you.”
But she admitted, “Today is not about Epstein. It is for me to ultimately be sentenced.”
She also apologized to her love ones for causing them pain, saying it “tortures” her every single day.
“It is my sincerest wish to all those in this courtroom and all those outside the courtroom that this day brings a terrible chapter to an end,” she said. “To those of who spoke here today and those who did not, may this day help you travel from darkness into the light.”
