Photos of Ghislaine Maxwell on Jeffrey Epstein’s private island emerged in the latest tranche of documents relating to the late convicted paedophile unsealed in New York.
Thousands of pages have been unsealed as of Monday evening, following a decision by Judge Loretta Preska in December to unseal a trove of filings in the now-settled litigation between Maxwell and Virginia Giuffre.
Among the filings unsealed on Monday were photographs produced by Epstein victim Sarah Ransome upon a request for discovery by Maxwell and Giuffre’s attorneys. Excerpts of a 2016 deposition from Ms Ransome, who gave a victim impact statement ahead of Maxwell’s sentencing for sex trafficking in 2021, were also unsealed.
The candid pictures showed Maxwell smiling or caught off-guard. They were reportedly taken at Epstein’s Little St James Island, which became known to the press as “Pedophile Island” and where his victims say his sex trafficking ring operated.
Ghislaine Maxwell is pictured in recently unsealed photos— (Southern District of New York Court )
Ghislaine Maxwell and late model scout Jean-Luc Brunel, who died in a French prison while awaiting trial on charges of sexual assault— (Southern District of New York Court )
The photos were introduced by Ms Giuffre’s attorneys as proof of Maxwell’s “involvement in the sex trafficking and abuse.” Ms Ransome also went on to detail the extent of the rampant abuse that young girls endured while on Little St James.
“There was a constant influx of girls. There were so many girls. There were girls in Miami,” Ms Ransome said, according to the transcript of her deposition cited by Ms Giuffre’s attorneys. “It’s like, I’m sure if you go into a hooker’s brothel and see how they run their business, I mean, it’s just general conversation about who’s going to have sex with who and, you know — what do you talk about when all do you is have sex every day on rotation? I mean, what is there to talk about?”
Ms Ransome described Maxwell as “Epstein’s main right-hand woman.”
The photos were produced by Epstein victim Sarah Ransome following a request by Maxwell’s attorneys for discovery— (Southern District of New York Court )
Epstein on Little St James in 2006— (Southern District of New York Court )
The extracts were flagged by a firm representing Epstein’s lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, to demonstrate Ms Ransome “manifestly lacks credibility”. Other claims by Ms Ransome that resurfaced on Monday included debunked allegations that Bill Clinton, Prince Andrew, and billionaire magnate Richard Branson had sexual relations with young women — and were filmed while doing so by Epstein.
Ms Ransome admitted in an interview for a 2019 article published in The New Yorker that she “invented the tapes to draw attention to Epstein’s behaviour, and to make him believe that she had “evidence that would come out if he harmed me.”
A spokesperson for Mr Branson told The Independent: “We categorically reject all allegations made by Sarah Ransome. In 2016, Ms Ransome retracted her claims and then in 2019 after settling her claims with Epstein and Maxwell ... the allegations are baseless and unfounded.
“The actions of Jeffrey Epstein were abhorrent and we support the right to justice for the many victims impacted by his abuse.”
Several more court documents – and names – are expected to be released over the coming days.
Being identified through the court documents does not mean that the individual was involved in or aware of any wrongdoing by Epstein.
