Seven Jeffrey Epstein victims, including Virginia Giuffre and Annie Farmer, are set to face Ghislaine Maxwell in court today as she is finally sentenced for up to 55 years for sex-trafficking crimes.
Former socialite Maxwell faces more than half a century in jail after being convicted of procuring young girls for Jeffrey Epstein.
She will be sentenced in New York at 11 a.m. today, with prosecutors saying she deserves 30 to 55 years behind bars.
Victims Annie Farmer, Virginia Giuffre and ‘Kate,’ a former model, have been given permission to read victim impact statements to the court, although it’s unclear whether Giuffre will definitely attend.
Although Giuffre was not part of the indictment she was mentioned in Maxwell’s trial.
Annie Farmer’s older sister, Maria, as well as victims Sarah Ransome, Teresa Helm, Elizabeth Stein and Juliette Bryant are also set to look Maxwell in the eye in court and have submitted written statements.
Sarah Ransome told the Daily Telegraph she was happy her statement would be read in court because she had ‘a lot to say.’
Farmer blasted Maxwell today for her lack of remorse ahead of her sentencing for sex-trafficking crimes.
Annie Farmer, 43, who was the only victim to testify using her real name, said it was upsetting that Maxwell, 60, was focusing on how her own life was ruined.
Maxwell’s attorneys asked US District Judge Alison J. Nathan to impose a sentence of no more than five years because they said her ‘life has been ruined’ and she was ‘vulnerable to Epstein’ because of ‘a difficult, traumatic childhood.’
Farmer hit out at the 60-year-old for not ‘taking ownership’ of her crimes.
‘I felt again that there had been an opportunity for her to take ownership of what she had done, for her to in some ways express remorse to the victims of her crimes,’ she told BBC Radio 4. ‘It was all about her and about how she was victimized.’
She added: ‘These crimes had not only impacted the victims that experienced them but also there a systemic impact for those people’s partners, families and loved ones. If you think about all the people involved in this the harm she caused is almost immeasurable.’
Seven Jeffrey Epstein victims, including Virginia Giuffre (left) and Annie Farmer (right), are set to face Ghislaine Maxwell in court today as she is finally sentenced for up to 55 years for sex trafficking crimes
A photo of a young Annie Farmer – shown as evidence in Ghislaine Maxwell trial
Farmer told the court she first met Maxwell in 1996 when she was taken to Epstein’s New Mexico ranch and got the impression that the two were ‘romantic partners’
Maxwell, a US, British and French citizen, was convicted in December of five counts of grooming and procuring underage girls for Epstein, who was found hanged in his prison cell in 2019.
The maximum term Maxwell can serve is 55 years. Maxwell has denied abusing anyone.
For nearly two years since her July 2020 arrest, Maxwell had been kept in solitary confinement at the maximum-security Metropolitan Detention Center in New York because officials feared she would kill herself before her trial; last month she was moved into an area with 40 other inmates.
Maxwell’s attorneys claim the British socialite ‘is not a dangerous criminal or a habitual offender.’
‘Ms Maxwell cannot and should not bear all the punishment for which Epstein should have been held responsible,’ her attorneys said.
‘Her life has been ruined. ‘She had a difficult, traumatic childhood with an overbearing, narcissistic and demanding father. It made her vulnerable to Epstein, whom she met right after her father’s death.
Witness Annie Farmer is questioned by prosecutor Lara Pomerantz during the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, the Jeffrey Epstein associate accused of sex trafficking, in a courtroom sketch in New York City, Dec. 10, 2021
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell at the socialite’s home in Britain
‘It is the biggest mistake she made in her life and one that she has not and never will repeat.’
Her attorneys added: ‘She is someone who wants nothing more than to live a normal family life – something she was denied because of her association with Epstein and will now almost certainly never have.
‘Ms. Maxwell has already experienced a hard time during detention under conditions far more onerous and punitive than any experienced by a typical pre-trial detainee, and she is preparing to spend significantly more time behind bars.
‘The public does not need to be protected from Ms. Maxwell and such considerations should have no weight in determining her sentence.’
Many of Epstein’s victims say they intend to appear at the sentencing, including Virginia Giuffre, who earlier this year reached an out-of-court settlement with Prince Andrew after he consistently and vehemently denied her claims that he sexually abused her.
During Maxwell’s trial Farmer testified how Maxwell had rubbed her breasts and Epstein had abused her.
Farmer today said she’d been advised to look at Maxwell as soon as she walked into the court to testify against Epstein’s ex.
Sarah Ransome told the Daily Telegraph she was happy her statement would be read in court because she had ‘a lot to say’
She told the BBC: ‘Walking into the courtroom was very intimidating. There was a lot of anticipation and anxiety but I had received some really helpful advice from a friend to look at her as soon as I walked into the courtroom and remind myself that I had the opportunity to confront her.
‘That the 16-year-old that she harmed had grown into a woman and was able to use her voice to tell her story and tell the truth about what happened.’
Farmer took the witness stand on Day 10 of Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial.
Her older sister, Maria, was the first person to report Epstein and Maxwell’s alleged sexual abuse of underage girls in 1996. Farmer met Epstein in New York in 1995 when she was 16. She was introduced to Maxwell at Epstein’s Santa Fe ranch in New Mexico.
She described to the court how the two lavished her with gifts and offered to help her academic endeavors before subjecting her to unwanted fondling and cuddling.
Farmer testified she was living in Phoenix, Ariz. with her mother and younger sister. Maria, who is nine years older than Annie, was living in New York and working for Epstein.
Annie Farmer, one of the four accusers in Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial took the stand on Friday. Farmer, who is the only accuser in the case to testify under her real name, described meeting the late pedophile in New York in 1996 when she was 16. She told how Epstein brought her to his ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she met Maxwell
Farmer testified that she was introduced to Epstein by her older sister, Maria Farmer, and he took them to see the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and then a movie in New York, where she sat next to the pedophile. At some point during the movie she said Epstein ‘caressed’ her hand and then her leg. ‘I felt sick to my stomach,’ she told the court.
The abuse she suffered started the second time Annie Farmer met Epstein, when she and her sister went to see a film with the billionaire.
Farmer said: ‘Initially when the lights went down we watched the movie and at some point he reached over and puts his hand on the arm rest between our seats and started to reach for my hand and caressed my hand, interlocking his hand with mine and holding my hand’.
Farmer said her legs were crossed and Epstein ‘was rubbing the bottom of my shoe and rubbing my foot and my leg.’
‘I was very surprised. I was very surprised and anxious. I felt sick to my stomach. It was not something I was expecting. I noticed that when he integrated with my sister he’s stop doing that. When he was looking forward again he would return to touching me,’ she said.
Annie Farmer (pictured as a young girl) says she was introduced to Epstein and Maxwell when she was 16
Farmer said that she didn’t tell her sister because she was ‘very protective’ and she would’ve gotten ‘upset.’
Worse, Epstein was her employer and she worried Maria ‘could lose her job.’
The jury was shown an entry from Farmer’s diary from Jan. 7, 1996 in which she said that ‘the best night’ of her trip was when she ‘went to Jeff Epstein’s house and had champagne’ followed by ‘The Phantom of the Opera.’
She wrote that Epstein seemed ‘down to Earth’.
The jury was shown another diary entry from Jan. 25, 1996 in which Farmer caught up on recent events, including more about her trip to New York.
She recounted the incident while watching the film and said it was ‘a little weird, one of those things that’s hard to explain.’
She wrote that Epstein reached for her hand and they were ‘holding hands’ and that he ‘rubbed my arm.’
Farmer wrote: ‘It gave me a weird feeling but it wasn’t that weird,’ adding that it was ‘probably normal’ and that it made her feel ‘mad’ because Epstein stopped doing it whenever he was talking to Maria.
In her testimony, Farmer recalled the unwanted physical contact making her feel like she ‘just wanted to be done with it’
Looking back at her diary now, Farmer said she appeared to be ‘conflicted’ at the time because she knew what had happened was ‘not normal.’
Farmer stayed in touch with Epstein by phone and in the spring of 1996 she was invited to his ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the weekend.
She said that she was ‘not eager’ to go after what happened in New York.
‘I had been told that Maxwell would be in New Mexico with Epstein so that made me feel more comfortable,’ she said, adding
She said she understood that Maxwell and Epstein were in a ‘romantic relationship’ so Epstein ‘couldn’t do anything while they were together.’
When Farmer arrived at the ranch having flown commercial and been picked up by Epstein’s driver, she recalled Maxwell as being ‘trim, attractive’ with short dark hair and a British accent.
Farmer observed Maxwell and Epstein being ‘very intimate with each other, touching each other.’ Farmer thought they were in a relationship because of the ‘way they spoke and interacted.’
Farmer said it seemed ‘unusual’ that a 16-year-old would be on the ranch alone with them, apart from staff, but she felt ‘special’ that they wanted to spend time with her. She was also conscious of the possibility of a foreign trip that Epstein said he could pay for and she couldn’t otherwise afford.
Farmer stayed in touch with Epstein by phone and in the spring of 1996 she was invited to his ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the weekend
It was at Epstein’s Zorro Ranch that Farmer first met Maxwell
Maxwell began to talk to Farmer about her life, school and her plans for the future, she told the jury.
The three of them went shopping and Maxwell and Epstein bought Farmer a pair of cowboy boots costing over $100. Farmer said they seemed ‘very expensive’ and even though they were not the kind of thing she normally wore, she accepted the gift.
On a trip to the movies to see ‘Primal Fear’ things took a more disturbing turn; before the movie Farmer said she saw Epstein and Maxwell ‘being very playful with each other and grabbing each other.’
She said Maxwell ‘wanted to pull Epstein’s pants down’ which seemed ‘odd’ to her, saying that kind of behavior was ‘something you expect from younger people.’
Maxwell, pictured, is facing 55 years in prison for her role in arranging young girls for Epstein
Maxwell sits as the guilty verdict in her sex-abuse trial is read in a courtroom sketch in New York City, Dec. 29, 2021
During the film, Epstein reportedly did the same thing as before, only this time it was more ‘blatant.’
‘He right away began to hold my hand and caress it and rubbed my foot and my arm. It was for the majority of the movie,’ she said. The only difference being that Epstein didn’t stop when he was talking to Maxwell.
Later, Maxwell ‘wanted to show me how to rub his (Epstein’s) feet’ so they sat together in an area she called a ‘den’ inside the house and she ‘instructed’ Farmer on how to hold Epstein’s foot and where to press it.
Maxwell told her to ‘pull back his big toe’ and to press on a certain part of Epstein’s foot.
When asked by a prosecutor at the start of her testimony if she saw anyone in the courtroom who had ever given her a massage, Farmer identified Maxwell, who was sitting at the defense table looking at Farmer
Epstein made ‘groaning noises’ and appeared to enjoy it, Farmer said.
Maxwell asked Farmer if she had ever received a massage and, when she said no, Maxwell insisted on giving her one.
They went to the room Farmer was staying in and Maxwell pulled out a fold-up massage table. Maxwell put a sheet on top and told Farmer to get on it.
‘I was wearing nothing,’ she said. ‘She told me to get undressed and lay under the sheet and I did. She started rubbing my body, rubbing my back and she’s making small talk and then at some point she had me roll over so I was laying on my back.
‘She pulled the sheet down and exposed my breasts and started rubbing on my chest and upper breasts.’
Prosecutor Lara Pomerantz asked what Farmer’s reaction was. She said: ‘When she pulled down the sheet I felt frozen because it didn’t make sense to me. I was surprised and I wanted so badly to get off of the table and have that massage be done.’
Asked who was in the room, Farmer said it was just Maxwell.
‘The door to the room was open and I was fearful, especially at that moment. I had this sense that Epstein could see me.’
The next incident happened one morning when Epstein ‘suddenly opened my (bedroom) door and bounded into the room in a playful way saying he wanted a cuddle’, Farmer said.
‘He climbed into bed and lay behind me and reached his arms around and pressed his body against me’
Asked if Farmer wanted this, she said: ‘No’.
She said that she felt ‘isolated’ and if I could ‘get through this it would be fine’. She said: ‘I didn’t say anything’ while it was happening.
He said: ‘He had his arms around me and I felt frozen’.
Farmer said that she had to go to the bathroom as an ‘excuse’ to get out there, went to the toilet and shut the door.
Ghislaine Maxwell, pictured here alongside Jeffrey Epstein aboard a private jet, has been convicted of trafficking girls for sex and ‘serving up’ schoolgirls for the paedophile and herself
She said: ‘I can’t remember how long I was in there. I wanted to be in there long enough that this situation would be over’.
By that point Farmer said that she ‘just wanted the weekend to be over’.
She said that she thought she was going there because of Maxwell and Epstein’s interest in her academic pursuits.
In fact she now realized they had a ‘very different interest in me’. Farmer said she felt ‘extremely disoriented and I wanted to be done with it’.
Maxwell’s sentencing in New York at 11am today is the culmination of a prosecution that detailed how the power couple flaunted their riches and prominent connections to lure vulnerable girls as young as 14 and exploit them.
Prosecutors said Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial, sexually abused children hundreds of times over more than a decade, and couldn’t have done so without the help of Maxwell, his longtime companion and onetime girlfriend.
In a court filing prosecutors wrote: ‘Maxwell’s conduct was shockingly predatory. She was a calculating, sophisticated, and dangerous criminal who preyed on vulnerable young girls and groomed them for sexual abuse.’
Maxwell’s lawyers said: ‘The witnesses at trial testified about Ms. Maxwell’s facilitation of Epstein’s abuse, but Epstein was always the central figure: Epstein was the mastermind, Epstein was the principal abuser, and Epstein orchestrated the crimes for his personal gratification.’
Epstein and Maxwell’s associations with some of the world’s most famous people were not a prominent part of the trial, but mentions of friends like Bill Clinton, Donald Trump and Britain’s Prince Andrew showed how the pair exploited their connections to impress their prey.
Victims of Jeffrey Epstein, from left, Sarah Ransome, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, and Marijke Chartouni find support in each other
Some of Ghislaine Maxwell’s victims will be in court this week to watch when she faces a 55-year sentence for child sex trafficking
Over the past 17 years, scores of women have accused Epstein of abusing them. Many described Maxwell as acting as a madam who recruited them to give massages to Epstein.
However, the trial revolved around allegations from only a handful of those women.
Four testified that they were abused as teens in the 1990s and early 2000s at Epstein’s mansions in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the Virgin Islands.
Three were identified in court only by their first names or pseudonyms to protect their privacy: Jane, a television actress; Kate, an ex-model from the U.K.; and Carolyn, now a mom recovering from drug addiction. The fourth was Annie Farmer, who identified herself in court by her real name after speaking out publicly.
They described how Maxwell charmed them with conversation and gifts and promises that Epstein could use his wealth and connections to help fulfill their dreams.
Then, they testified, she led them to give massages to Epstein that turned sexual and played it off as normal.
Carolyn testified that she was one of several underprivileged teens who lived near Epstein’s Florida home in the early 2000s and took up an offer to massage him in exchange for $100 bills in what prosecutors described as ‘a pyramid of abuse.’
Maxwell made all the arrangements, Carolyn told the jury, even though she knew the girl was only 14 at the time.
The allegations against Epstein first surfaced publicly in 2005. He pleaded guilty to sex charges in Florida and served 13 months in jail, much of it in a work-release program as part of a deal criticized as lenient. Afterward, he was required to register as a sex offender.
In the years that followed, many women sued Epstein over alleged abuse. One, Virginia Giuffre, claimed that Epstein and Maxwell had also pressured her into sexual trysts with other powerful men, including Prince Andrew. All of those men denied the allegations and Giuffre ultimately settled a lawsuit against Andrew out of court.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 but killed himself a month later.
Eleven months later after his death, Maxwell was arrested at a New Hampshire estate.