In her 2016 deposition, Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of the American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein stated that during her time with Epstein, she never witnessed any “inappropriate underage activities,” the transcripts revealed. The testimony was made in a now-settled civil defamation case that was filed by Virginia Giuffre, one of the financier’s late accusers.
In 2015, Giuffre filed the lawsuit against her when she called the British socialite a “liar.” She accused that Epstein and his friends forced her into sex, and at the age of seventeen, she was trafficked to the UK to have sex with Prince Andrew. But Prince categorically denied the allegations and said that he can’t recall meeting her. Last November, he decided to resign from his duties following the allegations in the Epstein case.
More:
- Epstein ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell arrested by FBI
- Ghislaine Maxwell pleads not guilty in Epstein case
To keep her 2016 testimony concealed from the public, Maxwell had fought a long legal battle in the appeals court. Her lawyers had argued that releasing the transcripts could potentially impede her trail next year and would also violate her constitutional right to self-incrimination. Eventually, the court ruled against her and ordered the release of the documents.
The transcripts from the deposition were made public on Thursday, under the US District Court’s orders. The appeals court stated that Judge Loretta Preska was right to determine that the public had the right to access the documents and further added that the arguments presented by Miss Maxwell were “meritless.”
In the 400-page transcript, she repeatedly denies and dismisses several accusations and insists that she had never seen Epstein have sex with anyone. When asked about hiring underage girls to work in his house and having sexual relations with him, she categorically denied the allegations. While referring to Giuffre, the socialite said, “she is an awful fantasist.”
Miss Giuffre had accused that the daughter of the disgraced newspaper tycoon of hiring her as a masseuse when she was a minor. She says with the assistance of Maxwell, her boyfriend kept her as a “sex slave.”
Next year, Maxwell is expected to go on trial in a criminal case. She is charged with helping her then-boyfriend in trafficking and abusing underage girls and of perjury for denying her involvement under oath when she gave her deposition. However, she has pleaded not guilty. Currently, Maxwell is in police custody and has been there since July this year. And if the court finds her guilty, she could be sentenced to up to thirty-five years in prison.
