Ghislaine Maxwell ‘intimidated’ by guards as she used bathroom, lawyers claim

Ghislaine Maxwell claims she was “intimidated and humiliated” while guards, who suspected her of owning improperly obtained legal papers, watched as she used the bathroom in a “horrific” prison.

The 59-year-old faces charges that she procured teenage girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse and has been incarcerated in a Brooklyn jail since July 2020.

Defence lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said that the socialite was being treated unfairly in a letter to US District Judge Alison Nathanon on Monday, after the defence appeared in an appeals court seeking bail.

“Ms Maxwell requested and was given permission to use the bathroom,” Mr Sternheim wrote.

“But unlike any other occasion, the guard team leader stood knee to knee with Ms Maxwell while Ms Maxwell sat on the commode in the small area containing one toilet and a sink.”

According to the lawyer, Ms Maxwell then had her papers removed by the guards, who warned her of potential punishments.

“This incident has further compromised Ms Maxwell’s ability to prepare for trial, to confer with counsel, and to retain confidential legal documents,” Mr Sternheim said.

Before the letter was released Ms Maxwell’s lawyer outlined a series of “horrific” aspects of her prison stay to a US appeals court.

Lawyer David Markus said that it was impossible to prepare for trial and unfair to force Ms Maxwell to review millions of pages of materials from behind bars.

Ms Maxwell is currently being woken by guards every fifteen minutes due to concerns that she may, like her former partner Mr Epstein, commit suicide.

"We just want a fair opportunity, a fair chance, so she can get ready for the trial of her life," Markus told a panel at the Manhattan. "It's impossible to prepare for trial when you're getting no sleep."

The lawyers claimed that Ms Maxwell keeps a sock over her eyes to block out torchlight shone at her every fifteen minutes as she tries to sleep.

Ms Maxwell denies helping Mr Epstein recruit and groom three girls for sex from 1994 to 1997, and sex trafficking for grooming and paying a fourth girl for nude massages and sex acts with the financier from 2001 to 2004.

US District Judge Alison Nathan has denied bail three times, and said Maxwell was a "significant risk of flight" even with high bail.

Ms Maxwell is appealing a March 22 rejection of a $28.5 million bail package that included renouncing her British and French citizenships.

Ms Maxwell faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted. A trial is scheduled for July 12, but her lawyers argue it should be delayed until November or next January because of its complexity.