Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link during his prosecution hearing, where bail was denied for his role helping Jeffrey Epstein recruit and eventually abuse underage girls at the Manhattan Federal Court in New York, July 14, 2020 this court outline.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
A federal judge on Monday, for the second time this year, denied bail to Ghislaine Maxwell, the wealthy British socialite accused of preparing underage girls to be sexually abused by financial manager Jeffrey Epstein.
Judge Alison Nathan found, as well as when she first denied bail in July, that Maxwell poses a serious risk of escape, given his wealth, citizenship in several countries and the seriousness of the charges he faces.
The denial came three days after Maxwell celebrated his 59th birthday on Christmas Day in a federal prison in Brooklyn.
In his most recent bail request, Maxwell asked for the release of a $ 22.5 million and million dollar bail bond pledged by seven relatives and friends.
She also proposed that armed guards ensure that she remained confined to a New York City residence and was monitored by an electronic device.
Prosecutors strongly opposed the request, and Nathan agreed with them on his order issued on Monday in Manhattan’s federal court.
“The Court … considers that the bail conditions proposed by the Defendant do not reasonably guarantee his presence in future proceedings,” Nathan wrote in the decision.
“The Court concludes that none of the new information that the Defendant has submitted in support of its petition has any influence on the Court’s determination that it represents a flight risk.”
Maxwell, who was arrested in New Hampshire on July 2, pleaded not guilty to the case.
In addition to the charges related to the alleged recruitment and preparation of several minor girls for her ex-boyfriend Epstein in the 1990s, Maxwell is also accused of perjury for allegedly lying during a deposition in a lawsuit filed by an Epstein accuser.
She is due to be tried next year.
Epstein, 66, died in a federal prison in Manhattan in August 2019, dismissed by authorities as a suicide by hanging.
At the time of his death, Epstein was held without bail on child sex trafficking charges.
A former friend of Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, Epstein pleaded guilty to state charges in Florida, which included paying for sexual services to a minor.
He served 13 months in prison in this case, but was released for much of that time after his job was released.