Jeffrey Epstein’s ex-girlfriend claimed through her attorney Tuesday that she was physically abused by a guard in a federal jail in Brooklyn, and she was later punished for complaining about it.
Attorney Bobbi Sternheim wrote in a letter to a federal judge in Manhattan that the abuse recently occurred at the Metropolitan Detention Center when Ghislaine Maxwell was being searched in her isolation cell.
The lawyer said the British socialite asked for a camera to be used to capture what was happening, but a guard “answered ‘no'”.
“When Ms. Maxwell recoiled in pain and when she said she would report the abuse, she was threatened with disciplinary action,” Sternheim said.
Days later, Maxwell faced retaliation for reporting the abuse when a guard ordered him to shower to clean, disinfect and scrub the walls with a broom, the attorney said. It added that Maxwell was denied a request to record the encounter with the guard in the confined space.
A spokesman for prosecutors declined to comment. A message seeking comment was sent to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Maxwell, 59, is awaiting trial in July on charges that he recruited three teens for sexual abuse by Epstein in the 1990s and committed perjury during 2016 depositions in a civil case. She pleaded not guilty.
She has been incarcerated without bail since July, when she was arrested almost exactly one year after Epstein was arrested on charges of sex trafficking. Epstein committed suicide in a Manhattan jail a month after his arrest.
In late December, a judge rejected a $ 28.5 million bail proposal for Maxwell, saying he was in danger of fleeing and was not communicating with authorities about his finances after his arrest.
As part of the bail proposal, attorneys said Maxwell had about $ 22.5 million in assets with her husband and had set aside more than $ 7 million for his defense.
In Tuesday’s letter, Sternheim repeated claims made earlier that Maxwell is being subjected to onerous conditions that include repeated searches and that a light in her cell wakes her up every 15 minutes when she sleeps. The lawyer said the prison is reacting to Epstein’s suicide.
Sternheim said Maxwell has been physically searched approximately 1,400 times in the past seven months and that contraband has never been found despite hundreds of physical searches in the cell where she lives alone, as well as her locker, legal documents and personal effects.
He said his client is under 24-hour surveillance by two to six guards and about 18 cameras, not including a handheld camera that is pointed at her when she is moved out of the cell.
Meanwhile, harsh treatment involving food so poorly prepared that it sometimes cannot be eaten has taken its toll, the attorney said.
“It is fading into a shell of what it was before: losing weight, losing hair, and losing your ability to concentrate,” Sternheim wrote. “In addition to the many difficulties that affect your review of electronic discovery materials, over-handling and stress are affecting your resilience and effectiveness in preparing your defense and consulting with an attorney.”
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