The 60-year-old looked straight ahead and showed no emotion when a judge in the Southern District of New York handed down a sentence in front of a crowded public gallery.
Her accusers came face-to-face with her on Tuesday when several women read victim impact statements to the court – describing her as a “manipulative, cruel and ruthless person”.
Maxwell, who was described by the prosecutor as “dangerous” during her three-week trial last year, helped lure vulnerable teenagers to Epstein’s various properties for him to be sexually abused between 1994 and 2004.
At the trial on Tuesday, the social member apologized to her victims and said she hoped her sentence would allow them “peace and finality”.
Maxwell said the encounter with Epstein was the “biggest regret of my life” and that she wanted to acknowledge “the suffering” of her victims.
“I know my commitment to Epstein will follow and stain me forever,” she said as she addressed the court moments before her sentence was imposed.
“It’s the biggest regret of my life that I’ve ever met Jeffrey Epstein.”
She addressed her victims directly and said: “To you, all the victims who came in and out of court today… I am sorry for the pain you experienced.
“I hope my sentence … brings you closure … peace and finality. To help you put those experiences in a place that helps you move forward.”
Maxwell said the knowledge of the consequences of her crimes “tortures me every day”, and that she hopes the sentence “brings this terrible chapter to an end and … helps you to travel from darkness to light” .
Jurors heard the social worker summoned a 14-year-old girl to an orgy, touched another victim and laid out a schoolgirl outfit for a third accused before a sexualized massage with Epstein, because she ” thought it would be fun. “
She was convicted in December last year of five offenses, including sex trafficking with minors, conspiracy to encourage a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, and conspiracy to transport a minor in an attempt to criminalize to participate in sexual activity.
Judge Alison Nathan, who sentenced Maxwell to 20 years in prison, told the court she had “repeatedly, over many years, participated in a horrific scheme to trade young girls, some as young as 14”. .
Judge Nathan said it was important that although “Epstein was central to this scheme”, she was not sentenced “as a proxy” for him.
She said: “The accused’s actions… were horrific and predatory.
“Mrs Maxwell worked with Epstein to select young victims who were vulnerable and played a crucial role in facilitating sexual abuse.”
Judge Nathan continued her sentencing and told the court: “The damage done to these girls was incalculable.”
The judge said Maxwell’s victims were forced to live through the “painful, horrific and lasting impact of that trauma”.
She continued: “Those who engage in and facilitate sexual abuse will be held accountable by law.
“Whether you are rich or powerful, no one is above the law.”
Maxwell showed up with handcuffs around her ankles that rattled as she made her way to her seat in the courtroom.
The trial heard she could pay a fine for a $ 10 million bequest Epstein left to her when he died.
Four of Maxwell’s victims, Annie Farmer, Sarah Ransome, Elizabeth Stein and the prosecutor known under the pseudonym “Kate”, also read victim impact statements to the court.
Kate chose to read a statement other than the one submitted in a written format, saying: “” A manipulative, cruel and ruthless person.
“Today I stand with my sisters for the first time – bound by a trauma that I would not wish on anyone.
“Someone who even had a difficult or abusive father does not excuse sex trafficking in minors.
“Ghislaine’s lack of remorse or responsibility is exactly how we can see that she does not think what she did was wrong.
“She is not sorry and she will do it again.”
Throughout the trial, the court heard how she enforced a “culture of silence… by design” at Epstein’s properties, where staff were told to “see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing”.
Judge Nathan said she agreed that Maxwell told staff at Epstein’s Palm Beach home in Florida to be “blind, deaf and dumb”.
One of Maxwell’s defendants, who testified under the pseudonym “Jane”, told jurors that the accused and Epstein, in addition to luring her to an orgy at the age of 14, would caress each other and giggle in front of her.
She also told jurors how Epstein would use sex toys on her “even if it hurt”, and she did not tell anyone about the abuse because she was “scared” and “felt rude and ashamed”.
Maxwell’s trial also heard her tell another accuser, who testified under the pseudonym “Carolyn”, that she had a “large body for Epstein and his friends”.
Carolyn said the defendant touched her breasts in Epstein’s massage room before telling her she had a “large body type”.
Jurors also heard how Carolyn was introduced to the predator couple by Ms Giuffre and that she was in the same room while Epstein and Ms Giuffre had sex.
The third accused, who testified under the pseudonym “Kate”, said she had a schoolgirl outfit by Maxwell laid out for her before a sexualized massage with Epstein.
Kate said the accused then told her to drink Epstein’s tea in the outfit, and when the accuser asked why the outfit was on her bed, Maxwell said she “thought it would be fun.”
The jury was told Maxwell asked Kate if she knew of anyone who could come to her house and give Epstein oral sex because it was “a lot for her to do”.
The only accused who testified under her full name, Annie Farmer, told jurors she was left “frozen” when the social member asked her to pull out for a massage and rubbed her breasts.
Ms Farmer said the defendant encouraged her to get a massage after she taught her at the age of 16 how to rub Epstein’s feet.
Maxwell’s lawyer tried to distance herself from Epstein, but a series of photos showed the close relationship between the two.
Epstein was found dead in his cell in a federal prison in Manhattan in August 2019 while awaiting trial on a charge of sex trafficking.
Death was considered a suicide.