The disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has said, in a television interview from prison, she wished she had “never met” the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in a US prison for procuring underage girls for the American financier to sexually abuse. The 61-year-old maintains her innocence.
In an interview for TalkTV’s Jeremy Kyle Live: Ghislaine Behind Bars, which aired on Monday night, she also propounded the unfounded conspiracy theory that Epstein was murdered.
Epstein, whose associates once included Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton, was captured by federal authorities in July 2019 on sex-trafficking counts. He killed himself in a New York City federal jail just over a month after his arrest.
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Speaking from prison, Maxwell said: “I believe that he was murdered. I was shocked. Then I wondered how it had happened because as far as I was concerned, he was going to ... I was sure he was going to appeal.
“And I was sure he was covered under the non-prosecution agreement. But I wasn’t in the indictment. I wasn’t mentioned. I wasn’t even one of the co-conspirators. I honestly wish I had never met him.
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“Looking back now, I probably wish I had stayed in England. But leaving that aside, you know, I tried to leave and start another new job and move on from the end of ’98, ’99.
“So I wish I had been more successful in moving on ... because I’d been a banker and so I should have moved on completely.”
Maxwell also said the well-known photograph showing Andrew with his arm around his accuser Virginia Giuffre is “fake”.
“I don’t believe it’s real,” Maxwell said. “In fact I’m sure it’s not ... there’s never been an original. Further, there’s no photograph. I’ve only even seen a photocopy of it.”
In addition to sex trafficking, Maxwell was convicted of: conspiracy to entice individuals under the age of 17 to travel in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity; conspiracy to transport individuals under the age of 17 to travel in interstate commerce with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity; transportation of an individual under the age of 17 with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity; and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of individuals under the age of 18.
