Latest news with #childsextrafficking
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE The moment Jeffrey Epstein's twisted love affair with Ghislaine Maxwell was captured for the first time, as starry-eyed couple are seen at Trump's Plaza Hotel gala
It was the twisted, toxic relationship at the heart of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Ghislaine Maxwell 's affair with the pedophile wasn't just love - it was also wealth, power and security. And for Epstein, it meant access to her elite network of royalty, billionaires and influential figures. And it appears it all began in 1991 at then real estate magnate Donald Trump 's Plaza Hotel, when the starry-eyed couple, Epstein, 38, and Maxwell, 30, sat side-by-side at a gala event honoring socialite Maxwell's scion father Robert and his wife Elisabeth can exclusively reveal. That was the first of many intimate photos of the couple, many released by prosecutors during her 2021 child sex trafficking trial showed them arm in arm as they lived a glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle. But other photos hinted at the darker undercurrents to their relationship: in one Maxwell holds Epstein's foot and massages it while her top is open, exposing much of her breasts. In another shot, taken on Epstein's plane known as the 'Lolita Express', Maxwell grins at the camera with his foot in her hand while he looks bored and chats with a friend. Foot massages were how Maxwell and Epstein would start their victims down their path that led to sexual abuse and rape. And the fact that Maxwell was giving them to her boyfriend illustrates the complicated dynamics that brought them together. The Epstein case has returned to the headlines after the bombshell July 7 memo by the Trump administration claiming there was no signs of him blackmailing anyone and that nobody else would be investigated. The memo, from the Department of Justice and the FBI, also said that there was no 'client list' and no further evidence would be released. Future disclosures could shed fresh light on Maxwell, 63, and Epstein, who was 66 when he died, but the public record already gives us plenty of insight into how they created an international sex trafficking operation. They appear to have met at a time when Epstein was still making a name for himself. In 1987, Epstein was hired to work at Towers Financial which would collapse six years later after being exposed as a $450million Ponzi scheme. Epstein would walk away unscathed and fabulously wealthy. The co-founder of the company, Steven Hoffenberg, went to prison for 18 years. By Hoffenberg's account - he died in 2022 but gave numerous interviews before his death - Epstein and Maxwell were introduced by her father, Robert, the late publishing baron, as early as 1988. A BBC documentary, House of Maxwell, alleged that Epstein helped Robert Maxwell hide hundreds of millions of dollars he had stolen from his company's pension funds. Maxwell and Epstein were an unlikely pair: he was rough around the edges, having grown up in South Brooklyn and dropped out of college. She was a British socialite who attended Oxford University and grew up in extreme privilege in a 56-room mansion. But as Robert Maxwell's biographer Tom Bower has put it, when Maxwell met Epstein her 'fate was sealed'. He has said: 'She worshipped rich, domineering men.' Whatever bond the couple had been cemented in 1991 when tragedy struck: Robert Maxwell died after falling off his yacht in the Canary Islands under mysterious circumstances. Ghislaine was bereft: she was his father's favorite, and he was said to be 'unusually close' to her, even naming his yacht, Lady Ghislaine, after her. Public disgrace soon followed when it emerged $500million had been looted from the pensions of Robert Maxwell's companies, which included numerous British newspapers and the New York Daily News. Maxwell needed an escape, and she needed a protector - she needed Epstein. As journalist and Epstein chronicler Vicky Ward has put it: 'He saved her. When her father died, she was a wreck; inconsolable. And then Jeffrey took her in. She's never forgotten that - and never will.' Just 19 days after Maxwell's father's death, she was photographed at the Plaza Hotel in New York at a memorial for him - with hungry eyes locked on Epstein. Few others in the room seemed to matter to Maxwell, who was in a blue silk jacket while Epstein was in a white bow tie and with a large grin on his face. What followed was a romance that allowed Maxwell to retain her life of privilege and luxury and, through her contacts, gave Epstein access to the world's elite. She and Epstein traveled around on his fleet of private jets to his lavish homes in Palm Beach, Florida, New Mexico, New York and later his private island in the US Virgin Islands. During Maxwell's later trial for sex trafficking, Juan Alessi, the house manager at Epstein's Palm Beach home from 1992 to 2002, called Maxwell the 'lady of the house'. He said: 'From the day she came to the house, she right away took over, and she mentioned to me she was going to be the lady of the house. Also, she was in charge of other homes, other properties.' From the outside, their life must have seemed impossibly glamorous. Photos from this time show them partying with the likes of Donald Trump: a video from 1992 shows Epstein doubling over while the President says something about a woman while the pair were at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate. Bill Clinton flew numerous times on Epstein's planes including a bizarre trip to Africa 2002 for humanitarian work with Maxwell on board, along with Kevin Spacey and the comedian Chris Tucker. Britain's Prince Andrew visited Epstein multiple times including visits in 2010 when he allegedly had sex with 17-year-old victim Virginia Giuffre. The photos released during Maxwell's trial showed the couple photographed together at Balmoral, the late Queen Elizabeth II's residence in Scotland, in 1999, after being invited there by Andrew. Others showed them on what appeared to be a ski holiday: he is in a red jumpsuit while she is in a thick sweater. In one such photo, Epstein appears to put his hand on Maxwell's belly, which during her trial prompted speculation she had become pregnant. Another photo could - with a different set of models - be a Ralph Lauren advert as it shows Epstein in a tweed jacket and Maxwell sitting next to him, a large dog between them. Other photos show Maxwell sitting on the back of a 4x4 with Epstein driving and another showing her nuzzling her nose into the cheek of Epstein, who is wearing a black tie. In October 2002, Maxwell wrote a love letter about their relationship which was used as evidence by prosecutors. Speaking in the third person, she wrote: 'Jeffrey and Ghislaine have been together, a couple for the last 11 years. They are, contrary to what many people think, rarely apart – I almost always see them together. 'Jeffrey and Ghislaine share many mutual interests and they have a lot of fun together. They both have keen searching and inquisitive minds. 'She grew up amongst scientists and in an academic and business environment. Jeffrey and Ghislaine complement each other really well and I cannot imagine one without the other. On top of being great partners, they are also the best of friends.' During this time, the sky, it seemed, was the limit - but there were no limits to Epstein's appetite for underage girls. Maxwell's job was to find them for him. Speaking in 2020, Epstein survivor Maria Farmer, described how Maxwell would hunt for children while driving through the streets of New York. Farmer said: 'Who would think this woman would be a British witch? She was so nice. 'I'd seen her drive up half of Central Park, tell the driver to stop the car, she would jump out. She would get a phone number, write it down, and give it to the kids. Everybody always loved her because she seemed so trustworthy.' Giuffre, who tragically committed suicide in April aged 41, had said that Maxwell 'had a knack for it', referring to recruiting girls. She said: 'She would be able to figure out what that possible victim wanted or needed. 'Because she looked like a nice Mary Poppins figure you had to trust her.' At one point, Maxwell even berated Giuffre for not doing a good enough job. According to Giuffre, Maxwell told her: 'I just can't believe how bad you are at it. Pick any girl in the square.' Giuffre said: 'There was no sorrow or even you're doing something wrong you shouldn't do it, there was nothing like that, it was just a game to her.' Part of what made Maxwell able to do it was that she viewed Epstein's victims as beneath her, as one report put it, that they were 'trash'. Maxwell's devotion to the deceased pedophile extended so far that she would drive by Central Park and pick out girls for him to satiate his desire to have sex at least three times a day During Maxwell's trial 'Kate', one of the four women who testified against her, said that Maxwell asked her to find others to give oral sex to Epstein 'because it was a lot for her (Maxwell) to do'. Kate said Maxwell told her: 'You know what he likes: cute, young, pretty, like you.' According to Maxwell, Epstein needed to have sex three times a day, hence the need to schedule dozens of 'massages' every week. The stress appears to have gotten to her at times and Epstein's former housekeeper in Palm Beach, Juan Alessi, has claimed that Maxwell once told him: 'I hate him (Epstein) but I can't leave.' Not that Maxwell was suffering - or broke. She was living in a Manhattan mansion with 12 rooms, eight fireplaces and 7,000 square feet of space that Epstein bought in 2000 for just under $5million. Maxwell later took ownership of the property, which was six blocks from Epstein's home, and sold it in 2016 for $15million. During Maxwell's trial the jury was shown financial records which showed Epstein moved more than $30million to Maxwell's accounts from 1999 to 2007. For Maxwell, crime certainly paid. Epstein and Maxwell appear to have sought distance from each other in 2006 when he was investigated by police in Palm Beach, Florida. That led to his sweetheart plea deal in 2008 where he admitted soliciting a minor for prostitution and served 15 months in prison. Maxwell began dating Ted Waitt, the billionaire co-founder of Gateway Computers but Epstein kept her close and he helped to found her do nothing ocean conservation nonprofit, TerraMar, in 2012. By 2013, Maxwell had moved on to Scott Borgerson, a dashing former US Coast Guard officer, whom she would later marry. In the first known and only photo of them together, Maxwell, who was 14 years Borgerson's senior, smiles broadly. Her future husband's wedding ring from his first marriage was clearly visible. By all accounts, Maxwell lived what appeared to be a normal life, becoming a stepmother of sorts to Borgerson's two children while she fought off a growing wave of civil lawsuits from her victims. They lived in a $2.4million waterfront home in Manchester-by-the-Sea in Massachusetts where Maxwell, a keen jogger, would go for runs and enjoy swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. All of that changed in August 2019 when Epstein was arrested. Inexplicably, Maxwell, who has citizenship in France, a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the US, decided to stay put in America. That meant she became target number one for the FBI after Epstein's suicide in September 2019. Maxwell went on trial in 2021 and was found guilty of conspiracy to entice and transport minors for sex acts, as well as sex trafficking of a minor. She is currently serving her 20 year sentence at a federal prison in Florida, where she reportedly has become friends with a double murderer. In hindsight, Epstein's final act wasn't just a middle finger to his victims, it also sealed the fate of the woman who had once deeply loved him.
The Sun
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Epstein bombshell as Trump official offers to MEET Ghislaine Maxwell after her family fear ‘she'll be killed like perv'
A LEADING Trump official has announced his intention to seek a meeting with Jeffrey Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche today revealed his plans to meet with the disgraced British socialite. 7 7 7 7 7 He posted on X: "Justice demands courage. "For the first time, the Department of Justice is reaching out to Ghislaine Maxwell to ask: what do you know?" He added that he had contacted Maxwell's counsel on the direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi. "I intend to meet with her soon. No one is above the law—and no lead is off-limits," he wrote. Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence after being found guilty of child sex trafficking and other crimes. But her family has suggested that "government misconduct" could be used as new evidence to challenge her imprisonment. Her brother Ian Maxwell, 68, hopes to get her out of jail using new evidence. He recently told the Daily Mail that he fears for his sister's life. A statement from Blanche posted on Bondi's X account reads: "President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say. "Therefore, at the direction of Attorney General Bondi, I have communicated with counsel for Ms. Maxwell to determine whether she would be willing to speak with prosecutors from the Department. "I anticipate meeting with Ms. Maxwell in the coming days. "Until now, no administration on behalf of the Department had inquired about her willingness to meet with the government. That changes now." Maxwell's attorney David Oscar Markus told Axios that discussions with the government are underway. Since Epstein's death, speculated has been rife that he blackmailed prominent figures involved with his heinous crimes. It comes after the final footage of Jeffrey Epstein alive was finally released six years after his death. He was in prison at the time as he waited for a major trial over sex-trafficking charges. 7 7 The disgraced financier was found hanged in jail on the 10 August, 2019. But ever since his death there has been speculation and conspiracy theories that others were involved. The Department of Justice (DoJ) announced this month that Epstein died by suicide - despite rife conspiracy theories to the contrary. One key claim centres around a rumoured client list of individuals - although the Trump administration has now denied this list exists. Maxwell's brother told the Daily Mail: "There's such overcrowding in Tallahassee that higher-category prisoners are being placed there and it's becoming a facility that is more dangerous – we've got to get her out of there. "Normally she spends a lot of time in the prison library helping other prisoners with things like form filling, but she has to go from A to B and isn't always surrounded by guards. "It's a possibility someone might get to her. "I don't want to be dramatic but you can't discount it. Look what happened to Epstein."
Daily Mail
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Twist in Jeffrey Epstein case as Pam Bondi requests to meet with Ghislaine Maxwell amid MAGA's growing anger
Jeffrey Epstein 's associate Ghislaine Maxwell will meet with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche 'in coming days.' It comes as the public remains ardent in its demand that President Donald Trump 's Justice Department do more to get to the bottom of the Epstein files. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Tuesday morning the impending meeting between her deputy and the only living person facing the music for Epstein's child sex trafficking ring. 'President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence,' Blanche said in a statement posted to X by Bondi. 'If Ghislane Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.' Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for her role in Epstein's crimes. This story is breaking and will be updated.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Ghislaine Maxwell 'is not suicidal' and spends her days behind bars quietly helping educate fellow inmates
's life behind bars has been laid bare by one of her former cellmates. Jessica Watkins - who was imprisoned for her part in the 2020 Capitol riots - said Maxwell, 63, has rebranded herself as a teacher to other inmates. The 42-year-old transgender Army veteran said Jeffrey Epstein's former pal mostly keeps to herself as she serves her 20-year stretch for child sex-trafficking charges. Watkins, a former Oath Keeper, was imprisoned alongside the 63-year-old inside FCI Tallahassee. Maxwell notoriously helped Epstein exploit and abuse multiple minors over the course of a decade. Epstein's victims alleged they were procured by Maxwell and passed around his billionaire friends and associates who regularly visited his homes, which included his private island. He was eventually found dead in his cell from an apparent suicide while awaiting trial. Speaking with this week, Watkins said Maxwell mostly kept to herself inside the prison, a low-security facility in the Florida capital where she has modeled herself as a mentor to other jailbirds. It comes after Watkins said she wanted to get 'ahead of potential narratives' about Maxwell, insisting that 'she isn't suicidal in the least.' Recalling the first time she registered the disgraced socialite, Watkins said she had to do a double take to make sure it was her. She said: 'It's an open dorm, it's a big bay full of bunk beds, there is no cells. I walked by and I seen her there. 'I did a double take because I recognized her face immediately from the news. I was like "is that who I think it is?" 'My friend who was with me was like "I don't know - who is it?" I caught her up on the situation. Started asking around and it was definitely her.' Watkins, who had her sentenced commuted in January, said she and Maxwell would go speak several times a week, typically while exercising around the yard. She said that Maxwell brought up her own case a few times and only made one mention of Epstein, her former lover and boss, that she could remember. 'We don't talk about cases as inmates because people will think you're a snitch. It's an unspoken rule among inmates. You don't ask. '[Maxwell] did bring it up a couple times but it was very very hush hush. She didn't talk a lot about it. 'She did say that the DOJ had no interest in her until after, her exact words were until after Jeffrey, and then she paused for a second and said died. That was the only time he ever came up.' According to Watkins, Maxwell came across as being at ease inside prison, adding that she 'didn't seem unduly worried.' She added: 'The open dorm situation is very good. There's like 40 or 50 people around so if anybody tried anything, there's witnesses. She seemed very at ease, very calm and approachable.' Watkins said that anybody involved in child or sex cases is somewhat protected by the authorities. 'If someone is to retaliate against her they catch an entire indictment and can get like 10 years or something. 'I don't think she feared anything from the other inmates. She was also very helpful. She worked in the law library.' In the U.S., correctional facilities offer inmates the resources to access the courts and further understand their legal rights and options with in-house law libraries. Watkins said Maxwell worked inside the one in Tallahassee and provided fellow inmates with the right legal forms and offered advice, even running her own classes. 'She was very concerned about peoples' medical wellbeing and so she did have that kind side to her.' Despite this, Watkins added that Maxwell did make her uneasy, due to her being aware of the nature of her case. She added: '[Maxwell] made me nervous. Anytime she came around she made me nervous - but she was very nice.' Watkins said that outside of helping others with legal cases, Maxwell spent her time working out and reading books constantly - with a taste for classic literature. She never recalled seeing Maxwell with a tablet inside or ever spending time inside the TV room, deciding to work on her case or read instead. Watkins also took aim at the food available to inmates as being 'not fit for human consumption' while saying that she recalled Maxwell eating kosher meals. Maxwell is said to have kept to herself, and had one close friend who Watkins identified only as Lisa. Lisa told others she was a doctor before her prison stint. According to Watkins the facility had problems with drug use among inmates, particularly the prescription opioid Suboxone and crystal meth. Due to this, she said she and Maxwell bonded over not being hooked on the substances. 'We avoided most of the inmates cause they were high all the time and we didn't want to be around that. She would gravitate towards people who were also sober,' Watkins said. 'We walked the track one day and we were trying to calculate how many people were sober in the prison. I think we came up with 12.' The only other details of her private life Maxwell gave out was that her father had worked in the media, according to Watkins. Epstein and Maxwell were previously pictured alongside President Donald Trump, but the former socialite only mentioned the president once, Watkins noted. She said: 'There was something in the news about Trump having Jeffrey Epstein at Mar-a-Lago or something. 'I guess she had done some interview and the media had asked her about President Trump, and she came back and said, "Well, like why are you interested in Trump and not the Clintons?" 'I guess they were far closer, I don't know. It was a passing statement. She never really elaborated on that.' Watkins insisted Maxwell was not suicidal, suggesting she was unlikely to meet the same fate as Epstein, who was found dead in a New York City jail cell in 2019. At the time of Epstein's death, which was ruled a suicide, he had pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. His suicide fueled speculation he was assassinated as part of a cover-up to protect other high-profile individuals who were potentially complicit in his crimes. It was later suggested the well-connected financier maintained a list of clients to whom underage girls were trafficked.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Mom of 7 accused of offering man on Snapchat to sexually assault her infant daughter for $400
An Indiana mother of seven allegedly told a man she met on Snapchat that he could rape her infant daughter in exchange for money. Morgan Stapp, 32, was charged with child sex trafficking after allegedly attempting to facilitate the assault between the man and her seven-month-old daughter. In a probable cause affidavit, seen by PEOPLE, it is alleged that Stapp sent a message in November last year saying the unknown man could sexually assault her daughter. 'U can f*** her for $400. Half now, rest after. I'll send my address I do live alone and her dad is not in the picture', Stapp is alleged to have said to the man. The message was flagged with authorities and FBI agents met with her shortly after, the affidavit said. Stapp allegedly told agents she did not have access to her Snapchat after it was 'recently compromised' and had purchased a new phone. It adds that she then admitted to a caseworker from the Indiana Department of Child Services that this was not true. The affidavit alleges that agents found over 7,000 messages had been sent between October 29 and November 1 including 81 that offered sexual pictures of her daughters 'to pay for diapers'. Appearing in court last week, Stapp said that she is a stay-at-home mom and receives government aid, and help from her parents. She added that she is unemployed but does DoorDash and Instacart deliveries for additional income. Stapp said she had her children taken from her in December by the Department of Child Services and got them back in June. Her bond was set at $200,000 surety before it was then lowered to $100,000 She was handed a no-contact order for two of her children. Stapp remains in jail, with a pretrial conference set for September 15.
