Feds stay secretive on why it took 24 years to arrest Ghislaine Maxwell

Ghislaine Maxwell (Video screenshot)

By Mary Margaret Olohan
Daily Caller News Foundation

Federal prosecutors refused to give more information to the Daily Caller News Foundation on why it took so long to arrest convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s cohort Ghislaine Maxwell.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) would not provide more information when pressed by the DCNF on why it brought charges so many years after an accuser claims to have told investigators that Epstein and Maxwell allegedly assaulted her.

Asked Monday why it took so long to arrest Maxwell, SDNY spokesman Nicholas Biase told the DCNF in an email: “We bring criminal cases when they are ready to be brought and when we are confident we can prove them beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The FBI refused to comment on the matter and repeatedly referred the DCNF to SDNY.

Accuser Maria Farmer told The New York Times that in 1996, she informed the FBI and the New York City Police Department that Epstein and Maxwell had sexually molested both her and her sister and that Maxwell had threatened to destroy Farmer’s artwork. Farmer also said that the NYPD referred her to the FBI regarding her allegations of assault.

The NYPD did not immediately address what, if any, action the NYPD took after receiving this complaint.

Farmer insisted to the Times the FBI would have records of when she contacted them in 1996, since she was later contacted by the FBI in 2006 when she lived in North Carolina. Heavily redacted documents obtained by the Times also show that the FBI interviewed two alleged victims in 2006 – victims who claimed that Maxwell and Epstein sexually abused them.

Is Ghislaine Maxwell at risk of becoming another mysterious death?

Both the FBI and SDNY also refused to tell the DCNF what steps they are taking to ensure Maxwell’s safety in light of Epstein’s apparent suicide in a New York City jail in August 2019.

Maxwell, who has been accused of involvement in Epstein’s crimes against young women, was arrested by the FBI at 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning in Bradford, New Hampshire. She was temporarily held in Merrimack County Jail and then transferred to a federal New York prison Monday.

A grand jury indicted her on charges of conspiracy to entice minors to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport minors to these illegal sex acts, transportation of a minor to engage in illegal sex acts, and perjury.

This story originally was published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].