This is Sarah Ransome’s full victim statement, of which she is expected to read an abridged version of in court:
It’s been a long road to bring Maxwell to justice.
Unfortunately, the exact number of victims will never be known.
My book Silenced No More describes it as a ‘journey to hell and back’.
Although I escaped the infernal trap of Epstein, Maxwell and others, now 17 years later, I continue to suffer from the horrific trauma it caused.
I came to New York at the age of 22 and wanted to start my life over after an incredibly abusive relationship.
I was hoping to go to FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) and work in the fashion industry.
Shortly after arriving, I met an Epstein/Maxwell recruiter named Natalya Malyshev at a club.
She befriended me and soon after arranged for me to meet Jeffery.
She described him as a sort of philanthropist who could help me get into FIT and provide much-needed support, something that was foreign to me.
Over the next seven to eight months, against my will, I became nothing more than a human sex toy with a heartbeat and soul for the amusement of Epstein, Maxwell, and others.
Sometimes I was subjected to sexual predation several times a day, both at his New York mansion and on his private island of St. Little James in the US Virgin Islands.
While visiting the island, the sexual demands, degradation and humiliation became so horrendous that I tried to escape by attempting to jump off a cliff into shark-infested waters, but just before jumping I was caught by Maxwell and his company.
At the time, the extremely risky escape seemed more appealing than being raped again.
As the evidence at the trial of Ms. Maxwell showed, and confirms my own experience, Maxwell was Epstein’s right-hand man.
She was the manager of several recruiters and many others who provided the resources and cover for Epstein’s predation.
On several occasions, Ghislaine forced me into Epstein’s room with her own hand to be raped.
Epstein and Maxwell were masters of finding young, vulnerable girls and young women to exploit.
If they targeted a vulnerable girl/young woman, they would lean towards her, give her compliments and small gifts, and tell her how special she was.
They would tell her that Epstein was a very rich, generous man whose main purpose was to help the less fortunate.
He and Maxwell were sophisticated, worldly adults with deep ties to important people, world leaders, and institutions who could give her the lifeline she needed to fulfill her dreams.
But shortly after lulling me and others into a false sense of comfort and security, they pounced on us, trapping us in their upside-down, twisted world of rape, rape, and more rape.
Like Hotel California, you could check into the Epstein-Maxwell dungeon of sexual hell, but you could never leave.
Ghislaine forced me into Epstein’s room with her own hand to be raped.
The manipulation, intimidation and emotional abuse used to control the victims took many forms.
In my case, Epstein and Maxwell used my damaged upbringing, naivety, lack of a long-term visa, lack of education, and my desire to go to FIT to manipulate and ensnare me.
Once they got entangled, they told me to calm down and keep me that I was extremely intelligent and that I had real potential to be someone and something in life, that my dreams of making my family proud of me one day were achievable and that Epstein and Maxwell’s strong ties to FIT can make this possible.
With their help, my admission was almost certain.
“But”. There was always a “but”. First I had to write my application, which I did, but Maxwell had to review it and always found errors easily.
Then another “but” – I had to lose 30 pounds because I was a “piglet” (Maxwell’s countless demeaning descriptions of me).
Epstein and Maxwell put me on a strict Atkins diet and simultaneously sent me to a psychiatrist who prescribed antidepressants—among other drugs I didn’t need—that caused weight gain.
It was a classic no-win situation and they knew it – exactly what traffickers are looking for.
I never lost weight, my application was never good enough and was never submitted.
I thank Almighty God that I was able to escape the horror in 2007 by fleeing to the UK for my life.
Since then, I’ve dealt with the daily all-consuming fear that one day Epstein and Maxwell would harm me, my loved ones, and my family, as Epstein repeatedly told me it would if I ever dared to leave.
I often experience flashbacks and wake up in a cold sweat from nightmares reliving the horrible experience.
I am hyper-vigilant, experience dramatic mood swings and avoid certain places, situations and people. I sometimes start crying uncontrollably and for no apparent reason.
I have worked hard with several mental health professionals who have diagnosed me with extreme symptoms of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, PTSD and tendencies to self-harm.
Despite my sincere effort, I have not realized my God-given potential professionally or formed healthy personal relationships.
I’ve never been married and have no kids, something I’ve always wanted, even as a little girl.
I shy away from strangers and have trouble making new friends because I fear they could be associated with Epstein, Maxwell and the Enablers.
To this day I live AA . Bee [Alcoholics Anonymous] meetings, but I have had countless relapses and I know that only by the grace of God can I continue to live.
I’ve attempted suicide twice since the abuse – both nearly fatal.
Last year I traveled internationally to New York to attend Maxwell’s trial.
That was both therapeutic and traumatizing.
It was therapeutic to hear the testimony of the four brave victim witnesses, whose experiences paralleled mine, to know that I was not alone and that our story was finally being told for the world to hear.
But it was also traumatic to relive the experience and the flashbacks and nightmares have increased.
I am grateful that the jury believed the victims and pronounced a guilty verdict.
But one question still pierces my soul: How can the manager of this massive sex-trafficking conspiracy involving so many co-conspirators who have ensnared hundreds, if not thousands, of vulnerable girls and young women for three decades, continue to maintain her innocence?
Who and what institution ensured that this ring of sex trafficking could continue?
Why have the institutions and key people that enabled them not been exposed and brought to justice?
When I think about it, I know the answers to my questions.
Maxwell today is the same woman I met nearly 20 years ago – incapable of compassion or ordinary human decency.
Because of her wealth, social status and connections, she believes she is impeccable and above the law.
Sentencing her to spend the rest of her life in prison won’t change her, but it will give other survivors and I a light sense of justice and help us as we continue to work to recover from the hell of the sex trade she committed.
She will never hurt another young woman or child in this life.
For that I am sure.
As for the important, high-profile enablers—government agencies, politicians, and very wealthy friends of Epstein/Maxwell here and abroad—so far, their status and power have protected them.
I hope that one day they will be exposed and we can say that the United States is truly ruled by the rule of law and not by powerful people.
To Ghislaine I say, “You have broken me in unfathomable ways, but what you have not broken is my spirit, nor have you subdued my inner flame that now burns brighter than ever before.”