The Telegraph
Ghislaine Maxwell was ‘physically abused’ by a correctional officer during a routine investigation in prison
Ghislaine Maxwell was “physically abused” by a correctional officer during a routine jail investigation, her lawyer claimed Tuesday. Maxwell, the former partner of the disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein, was then threatened with retaliation after he said she would report the incident, the lawyer added. Bobbi Sternheim lamented the allegation in a letter to Judge Alison Nathan, New York, about Maxwell’s circumstances at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. “Recently, from the point of view of the security camera, Ms. Maxwell was placed in her solitary confinement cell and physically abused during a pat search,” she said. Sternheim wrote. A week later, the same team of guards ordered ‘Maxwell in a shower’ to clean the walls, disinfect and scrub with a broom, ‘the lawyer added in the letter. Maxwell’s lawyers have repeatedly complained about the prison conditions of their client in hopes of freeing her on bail. Me. Nathan recently denied bail in December and considered Maxwell a flight risk. Her lawyers say she is being subjected to excessive supervision, including a flashlight that is directed to her cell every 15 minutes from 9:30 pm to 6:30 pm. Maxwell is accused of recruiting underage girls for Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking. The daughter of the late newspaper baron Robert Maxwell is due to stand trial this summer, though it could be delayed due to the pandemic. Prosecutors are also accusing the British company of lying in testimony she gave in 2016 in a defamation case against her brought against her by longtime Epstein accused Virginia Giuffre. Maxwell, 59, faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted of the criminal case, which covers alleged crimes from 1994 to 1997.