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‘Why Is This Happening?’ Ghislaine Maxwell Sobbed In Court, Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Claims
Virginia Roberts Giuffre — who has accused Ghislaine Maxwell of helping Jeffrey Epstein traffic young girls — described Maxwell being taken into custody as “one of the best days of [her] life.”
Ghislaine Maxwell allegedly sobbed in court Thursday as she screamed, “Why is this happening?” according to one of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre told “60 Minutes Australia” that she heard a desperate Maxwell screaming in court Thursday, after the socialite was taken into federal custody and appeared before a judge via video feed.
Members of the public were not allowed in the New Hampshire courtroom but were able to listen in to audio of the proceeding.
“A very loud British woman screaming, ‘Why is this happening? How is this happening? How could this happen?’ and just crying her eyes out,” Giuffre said, describing the anguished cries she claimed to have heard.
However, the Daily Mail reported that some members of the media who also heard the audio were unable to confirm that the woman screaming was, in fact, Maxwell and said Maxwell’s voice appeared calm when she answered questions from the judge just a short time later.
The arrest comes after pressure from Epstein’s accusers to charge the accomplices to the disgraced financier’s alleged crimes, which spanned multiple states and decades. Epstein died in prison last year at the age of 66 after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell — Epstein’s close friend — was charged last week with enticing a minor to travel to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, conspiracy to commit both of those offenses, and perjury in connection with a sworn deposition after federal prosecutors said she helped Jeffrey Epstein exploit girls as young as 14 from about 1994 to 1997, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York.
“Maxwell enticed minor girls, got them to trust her, and then delivered them into the trap that she and Jeffrey Epstein had set,” Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said. “She pretended to be a woman they could trust. All the while, she was setting them up to be abused sexually by Epstein and, in some cases, Maxwell herself.”
Giuffre has accused Maxwell and Epstein of sexually trafficking her, even alleging that the pair forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew while she was underage — an allegation that Prince Andrew has publicly denied.
Giuffre described Maxwell’s arrest to “60 Minutes Australia” as “one of the best days of my life.”
“I have not stopped smiling and crying happy tears and I am just, yeah, elated to know that she’s where she belongs,” she said.
Giuffre went on the say that Maxwell had “ruined so many lives” and had been an integral part of Epstein’s alleged scheme to entice young girls to come to his home and perform sexual acts.
“She is the most narcissistic, evil, vain woman I’ve ever known and she’s finally been knocked off her pedestal,” Giuffre, who now lives in Queensland, told the outlet.
Giuffre has said Maxwell forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew on three separate occasions, once in London, once in New York, and a third time on Epstein’s private island.
Prince Andrew has said he has offered to be a witness in the case on several occasions, but U.S. prosecutors have said he declined their request for an interview and have now filed a formal request to sit down with the prince.
Now that Maxwell is behind bars, Giuffre said she hopes the socialite begins to talk to investigators about who may have participated in the alleged abuse of the young minors alongside Epstein.
“Prince Andrew should be panicking at the moment because Ghislaine doesn’t really care about anyone else but Ghislaine,” she said.
Giuffre said she believes Maxwell’s arrest is “just the beginning” in seeking justice for the people who have come forward in recent years to describe harrowing instances of sexual abuse at the hands of the wealthy financier.
“There were so many women in Epstein’s orbit that participated, procured, and benefited from Epstein’s sickness,” she said. “Jeffrey was dirty. He was sick. He’s a pedophile. He’s gone. Ghislaine, she is the wicked one, and these women with her, they deserve the same punishment. They deserve to be taken down as well.”
