Ghislaine Maxwell is facing up to 55 years in prison when she is sentenced on child sex-trafficking charges in a New York court on Tuesday.
Maxwell, 60, was found guilty on 29 December by a federal jury on five charges, including sex trafficking for the recruitment and grooming of four girls between 1994 and 2004 for sexual encounters with her former boyfriend and “partner in crime” Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell’s attorneys said on Saturday the socialite had been placed on suicide watch despite not being at risk of self-harm.
Bobby Sternheim said that she had been “abruptly removed” from the general prison population and denied access to toothpaste, soap, legal papers, and any clothes except a protective “suicide smock”, rendering her unable to review documents relating to her sentencing.
Federal prosecutors have sought a 30-55 year sentence for Maxwell, who was convicted of recruiting and grooming girls as young as 14 to be abused by Epstein.
Maxwell’s lawyers have asked the judge to give her only 4-5 years in prison, arguing that her difficult childhood made her susceptible to Epstein’s influence.
Statements from seven victims submitted to the court called Maxwell “dangerous and devious”.
