Prosecutors Want Ghislaine Maxwell To Spend Up To 55 Years Behind Bars

Prosecutors believe that Ghislaine Maxwell should spend between 30 to 55 years in prison for her crimes.

SBS News reports a letter of recommendation was filed to Manhattan Federal Court yesterday (Wednesday, June 23), where prosecutors outlined how long they'd like the disgraced British socialite to be locked up for.

“Ghislaine Maxwell sexually exploited young girls for years. It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of her crimes and the harm she caused. Her crimes demand justice,” they wrote.

“The government urges the court to impose a sentence within the applicable guidelines range of 360 to 660 months’ imprisonment.”

REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/Alamy

The recommendation comes after Maxwell’s defence argued she should spend ‘well below' the 20-year sentence after being found guilty of enticement of minors, sex trafficking of children, and perjury, in December last year.

Maxwell’s lawyers claim that the 60-year-old should not pay for Jeffrey Epstein's crimes, who was convicted of sex trafficking minors, some as young as 14.

However, New York prosecutors say that Epstein’s former partner was instrumental in his crimes and helped facilitate sex trafficking. 

“Maxwell’s conduct was shockingly predatory,” they said.

“She was a calculating, sophisticated, and dangerous criminal who preyed on vulnerable young girls and groomed them for sexual abuse.

“Not only did her conduct exhibit a callous disregard for other human beings, but her practice of targeting vulnerable victims reflects her view that struggling young girls could be treated like disposable objects.”

TNS/ZUMA Wire/Alamy

In Maxwell’s bid for leniency, submitted on behalf of her lawyers last week, they also said that the convicted sex offender suffered an abusive childhood at the hands of her father, Robert Maxwell.

Her father, a former member of parliament, died in a boating accident in 1991, and his daughter moved to New York shortly after.

Her defence said that following her father’s death, Epstein came into Maxwell’s life when she was ‘extremely vulnerable’. They added that before meeting him, she never exhibited ‘perverse behaviours’. 

However, prosecutors rebuked these claims and said she should not receive a lenient sentence because of her upbringing.

They wrote: "Although many defendants come before sentencing courts with compelling mitigating factors from difficult upbringings, Maxwell is not among them. 

"She has enjoyed a remarkable life of privilege, having lived in luxury and moved in social circles among the famous and powerful."

Judge Alison Nathan is set to sentence Maxwell on June 28.

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