Britain's Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend and collaborator of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, will appear for the first time on Friday in front of a New York judge, following her arrest and indictment for child sex trafficking.
After consulting Maxwell's attorney, the New York Southern District Attorney's office set the hearing for July 10, according to a document on file with the court system.
Prosecutors are likely to ask the judge to keep Maxwell in custody, with no possibility of bail. In a document released after her arrest, they argued that she presents "an extreme risk of flight."
Born in France, educated in Great Britain, and naturalized American in 2002, Maxwell has three passports, large sums of money, vast international connections, and absolutely no reason to remain in the United States and risk a long prison sentence, they stressed.
Maxwell owns or is associated with more than 15 bank accounts in the United States and abroad that since 2016 have had a balance of more than $20 million, prosecutors said.
Maxwell, a 58-year-old British jet-set member, friends with some members of the British royal family such as Prince Andrew, was arrested Thursday on a 60-acre property she recently bought in cash in Bradford, New Hampshire, where she was hiding of justice.
The Southern District Attorney's office in New York indicted her on six counts of helping to recruit teenagers to satisfy the sexual desires of American Jeffrey Epstein and his wealthy and powerful friends, and transporting them to another state for that purpose between 1994 and 1997, as well as for sometimes participating in abuse and lying to justice under oath.
If found guilty, she faces up to 35 years in prison and could spend the rest of her life behind bars, according to prosecutors.
Maxwell and Epstein had "one method": They invited vulnerable teens to the movies, to shop, and asked about school and their family, Audrey Strauss, acting attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters.
"They made them feel like they owed Epstein a debt," he explained.
Sometimes Maxwell was involved in the abuse of teenage girls - one of them barely 14 years old - for example in sexual massages; sometimes she just watched, added the prosecutor.
Arrested in July 2019, Epstein pleaded not guilty to child sex trafficking, and was found dead in his cell a month later in the New York prison where he was awaiting trial. He was 66 years old.
Prosecutors are likely to ask the judge to keep Maxwell in custody, with no possibility of bail. In a document released after her arrest, they argued that she presents "an extreme risk of flight."
Born in France, educated in Great Britain, and naturalized American in 2002, Maxwell has three passports, large sums of money, vast international connections, and absolutely no reason to remain in the United States and risk a long prison sentence, they stressed.
Maxwell owns or is associated with more than 15 bank accounts in the United States and abroad that since 2016 have had a balance of more than $20 million, prosecutors said.
Maxwell, a 58-year-old British jet-set member, friends with some members of the British royal family such as Prince Andrew, was arrested Thursday on a 60-acre property she recently bought in cash in Bradford, New Hampshire, where she was hiding of justice.
The Southern District Attorney's office in New York indicted her on six counts of helping to recruit teenagers to satisfy the sexual desires of American Jeffrey Epstein and his wealthy and powerful friends, and transporting them to another state for that purpose between 1994 and 1997, as well as for sometimes participating in abuse and lying to justice under oath.
If found guilty, she faces up to 35 years in prison and could spend the rest of her life behind bars, according to prosecutors.
Maxwell and Epstein had "one method": They invited vulnerable teens to the movies, to shop, and asked about school and their family, Audrey Strauss, acting attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters.
"They made them feel like they owed Epstein a debt," he explained.
Sometimes Maxwell was involved in the abuse of teenage girls - one of them barely 14 years old - for example in sexual massages; sometimes she just watched, added the prosecutor.
Arrested in July 2019, Epstein pleaded not guilty to child sex trafficking, and was found dead in his cell a month later in the New York prison where he was awaiting trial. He was 66 years old.