In Epstein case, send Ghislaine Maxwell to prison for a good, long time | Editorial
They are getting another day in court — and, we hope, another say in court.
Several of women recruited, groomed and sexually exploited as teenagers by Ghislaine Maxwell and her handler, the late Jeffrey Epstein, have traveled to New York City, hoping to be allowed to make victims’ statements before Maxwell is sentenced for her crimes.
Whether or not they can speak will be up to the judge. These women, and so many others who are unable to be in the courtroom on Tuesday, were denied, dismissed and muzzled for so long, that allowing them to make clear the long-lasting impact that their exploitation by two horrible people has had on their lives is only fair.
It’s taken their courage and their tenacity to get to this point, after the tenacity of Herald reporter Julie Brown gave voice to women who, for years, were suffering in silence.
Whether or not they get to speak, it was victims’ testimony at Maxwell’s trial in December on charges of sex trafficking and sex abuse that finally brought this measure of justice — made harder to secure when Epstein, awaiting trial in New York, killed himself in his jail cell in 2019 and Maxwell went on the lam. She was arrested in 2020 on a New Hampshire farm.
Evil cowards both. At least one of them should pay dearly in her lifetime.
