Politics

Alleged Jeffrey Epstein procurer Ghislaine Maxwell in jail quarantine after possible coronavirus exposure

Key Points
  • Ghislaine Maxwell is in quarantine in a New York City federal jail after possible exposure to a worker there who tested positive for the coronavirus.
  • The British socialite Maxwell is charged with abetting Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of underage girls.
  • She and Epstein socialized over the years with Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, as well as with Britain's Prince Andrew.
Ghislaine Maxwell, longtime associate of accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, speaks at a news conference on oceans and sustainable development at the United Nations in New York, June 25, 2013 in this screengrab taken from United Nations TV file footage.
UNTV | Reuters

Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite charged with abetting Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of underage girls, is in quarantine in a New York City federal jail after possible exposure to a worker there who tested positive for the coronavirus, prosecutors said Monday.

Maxwell tested negative for Covid-19 using a rapid test last Wednesday, prosecutors wrote in their filing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where she was indicted this year.

"As with any other quarantined inmate, the defendant will remain in quarantine for fourteen days, at which point she will be tested again for COVID-19," prosecutors wrote in their letter to the judge in Maxwell's case.

"If that test is negative, she will then be released from quarantine."

Prosecutors said that a staff member assigned to work in the area of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Maxwell is housed, tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

Maxwell, 58, is being held without bail on charges related to her alleged recruitment and grooming of girls for sexual abuse by Epstein, sometimes with her participation, at multiple locations in the mid-1990s.

One of the alleged victims was just 14 years old at the time she was recruited.

Maxwell, who has pleaded not guilty in the case, also is charged with perjury for allegedly falsely denying, while under oath for depositions in a civil lawsuit, her alleged conduct as a procurer for the wealthy money manager. 

She and Epstein for years had socialized with famous and wealthy people, including Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, and Britain's Prince Andrew.

Epstein lowered his profile after pleading guilty to state charges in Florida in 2008, which included paying for sexual services from an underage girl. He served 13 months in jail in that case, but was free for much of that time on work release.

NBC archive footage shows Trump partying with Jeffrey Epstein in 1992
VIDEO0:5800:58
NBC archive footage shows Trump partying with Jeffrey Epstein in 1992

Epstein, 66, was arrested on federal child sex trafficking charges in July 2019 after prosecutors said he abused dozens of young girls from 2002 through 2006.

He died a month later in a federal jail in Manhattan from what authorities have said was a suicide by hanging.

Maxwell was arrested last July at a million-dollar hideaway she had purchased in New Hampshire.

In their court filing Monday, prosecutors said while Maxwell is in quarantine she "may shower, make personal phone calls, and use the CorrLinks email system."

"In addition, the defendant will continue to be permitted to make legal calls every day for up to three hours per day. These calls will take place in a room where the defendant is alone and where no MDC staff can hear her communications with counsel," prosecutors wrote.

"On November 18, 2020, the Government provided the MDC with a laptop for the defendant to use to review [material for her upcoming trial]," the letter said.

"During quarantine, the defendant has been and will continue to be permitted to use that laptop in her isolation cell to review her discovery for thirteen hours per day."