Is Ghislaine Maxwell really a Flight Risk or is her Life more at Risk in Prison?
When Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested and charged with offences related to criminal sexual activity a judge decided she should be incarcerated awaiting her trial. We asked our West Midlands Polygraph Examiners to study the case.
Good Morning Britain interview
Following an interview with Laura Goldman, who says she has been a friend to Ghislaine Maxwell for many years, we were appalled by her treatment. Ms Goldman believes her friend to be a victim of Epstein as many other people were. We got our West Midland Polygraph Examiners, who are all forensic psychologists or experienced ex law enforcement officers, to take a look at it.
At the beginning of the interview Ms Goldman stated she felt Maxwell should “pay for her crimes”. When asked by Piers Morgan what she thought her crimes were, Ms Goldman said she didn’t know but was going to “wait for the court to say”. She added that reading the indictment, there was obviously a pattern of “some kind of grooming of women for Jeffrey”. This was immediately leapt upon by Morgan while the disapproving Susanna Reid looked on. He asked why Ms Goldman would think Maxwell was in any way a victim, given the depth of allegations against her and the consistent pattern of her acting as some kind of “Madame” to Jeffrey Epstein when she groomed very young, often underage girls to be sexually abused. We should all bear in mind that Ghislaine Maxwell has not had a trial in court yet but Piers Morgan has already decided she is guilty of being a “Madame”.
There followed what can only be described as an interrogation
The full interview can be seen below:
Domestic Abuse
As highly qualified forensic psychologists we could easily have answered Morgan and Reid’s questions. We see victims of emotional, as well as physical, domestic abuse every week. Some women have stayed with or kept in touch with abusive partners for over 40 years. They have variously been threatened, blackmailed and beaten. So this, Mr Morgan, is why Ghislaine Maxwell could be a victim. We are not saying she is, but we understand why she could be. There is no doubt that she met Epstein at a very low point in her life.
Laura Goldman
It is incredible that many news sources, including the BBC, failed to check out Laura Goldman before giving her air time. According to the Mail on Sunday Goldman, a former stockbroker, was charged with stalking and harassing a wealthy ex-lover between 1994 and 2002.
The Maxwell family say Ghislaine has never met Goldman, doesn’t know her and certainly they have never been friends. The family is concerned that what Goldman is saying in the many interviews she has given could endanger Ghislaine’s life.
You can access the Mail on Sunday’s article by clicking here.
Who is Ghislaine Maxwell?
Ghislaine Maxwell was born on 25 December 1961, in France. Her father, Robert Maxwell was a newspaper magnate. She attended Oxford University graduating with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. She grew up in a wealthy, privileged environment and was purportedly her father’s favourite child.
She, and some of her siblings, worked for their father. In January 1991 Robert Maxwell purchased the New York Daily News. However, in November 1991 he died in what was described as an accidental drowning, having apparently fallen from his yacht off the Canary Islands. Ghislaine never accepted his death as an accident or a suicide and always believed her father was murdered. Not long after Robert Maxwell’s demise news emerged that he had been ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ for years. He was in severe financial trouble and had dipped into the pension funds of his employees to the tune of millions.
The death of her father affected Ghislaine very badly and she decided to reside in New York permanently as a result. It was here that her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein began. As a socialite she was photographed with him at many events and was considered his girlfriend. According to friends she fell in love with Epstein and expressed a desire to marry him. However, his open womanising caused problems within the relationship and the marriage never happened.
Conviction of Epstein and civil court cases
Nevertheless she remained close friends with Epstein and appears to have managed many of his personal affairs. She was certainly a prominent figure in his life until 2008 when he was incarcerated for “procuring an underage girl for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute”.
After Epstein’s conviction there is little information available regarding Ghislaine’s continued involvement in his life. But in 2003 Epstein referred to her as his “best friend”. It’s clear that Ghislaine had other relationships whilst associated with him and vice versa. She filed a lawsuit against his estate this year claiming she was an employee. She stated that she had been employed as a personal assistant to Epstein for many years and managed his real estate.
Over several years Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell appeared as co-defendants in a number of civil actions related to sexual assaults. It was alleged in these cases that she had procured underage girls for Epstein and had threatened them with physical harm if they did not do what she instructed or Epstein desired. It was also alleged that she participated in the sexual assaults.
Arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell
On 3 July this year, Maxwell was arrested at her home in rural New Hampshire. Over 20 police officers and FBI agents attended and smashed down the front door in the early hours of the morning. According to her lawyers none of this was necessary since the FBI was aware of Maxwell’s whereabouts and could have invited her to give herself up. She has not left the US since Epstein’s death.
Following her arrest she was charged with 6 offences including 4 that relate to recruiting underage girls for Epstein between 1994 and 1997 as follows:
- Conspiracy to entice minors to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts
- Conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- Transportation of a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity
- 2 charges of perjury
She was denied bail because prosecutors deemed her to be a flight risk despite the fact that she hasn’t left the USA since Epstein’s death.
She denies all charges against her.
Why Maxwell should not be in prison awaiting trial
There is no doubt that Jeffrey Epstein was exploiting young girls sexually. He also had a lot of VIP pals including Prince Andrew. I don’t think many of us will forget Prince Andrew’s ‘car crash’ BBC interview regarding his involvement with Epstein or lack thereof.
However, Epstein died in prison awaiting trial and many are convinced that the official verdict of suicide leaves a lot of questions unanswered. If he was being monitored 24/7 how was it possible for him to commit suicide? Why weren’t the CCTV cameras working?
Ghislaine Maxwell is in a similar prison and doubtless there will be many VIPs worried about what she might say in court. It was expected that she would take a plea deal but she has so far, not done so. She insists she is innocent. However, she could spend the next 35 years in prison if found guilty and this cannot be ignored.
So despite being on suicide watch, could she meet the same demise as Epstein? Considering what she is charged with might another inmate gain some kudos by murdering her?
Guilty or innocent
The usual social media activity has social justice warriors sitting as judge and jury. They have already found her guilty. We find this problematic because it jeopardises a fair trial. Like Laura Goldman we await the trial and verdict.
However, our West Midlands polygraph examiners have concluded that Ms Maxwell does not fit the usual profile of females involved in sexual abuse of minors.
Typical female sex offenders
Research shows us that women rarely commit these types of crimes. Fewer than 5 percent of all sex offenders are female. Those women who do sexually abuse minors are usually between 20 and 30 years old, poorly educated and have low socio economic status. They are often suffering from mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar or manic depression. Some have personality disorders, substance abuse and anti-social behaviour disorders. Almost 50 percent of these offenders have severe mental health problems.
Many have been coerced by males into committing sexual abuse. Often female sex abusers only have a single victim that is usually related to them. Many of them have been mistreated as children and make bad choices in male partners, often choosing abusers. They commonly lack self-esteem and confidence tending to be introverts. Invariably if they are caught female sex abusers will admit to what they have done, taking responsibility for their crimes.
So Ghislaine Maxwell is not atypical of what we expect to see in a female sex offender. She is well educated, wealthy, extrovert and confident. She is also alleged to have had multiple victims none of whom were related to her.
Wealth and power can corrupt
It may be hard to imagine being able to buy anything you want to but material things can become boring when you have an endless supply of funds to purchase them with.
So when retail therapy loses its buzz some wealthy people seek darker ways to get a high. That can be through drug abuse or other forms of abuse including sexual. There are always opportunists and deviants like Epstein available to service that need. Sometimes the opportunists are blackmailers too. The rich and famous pay the ransom, in favours or in money, to keep their secrets safe for a while until the next ransom is demanded.
We have no idea what the extent of Ghislaine Maxwell’s involvement in this vile business is. She could have been the victim of a form of domestic abuse. She might have been a willing participant in Epstein’s crimes or she might be innocent. A lie detector test would most certainly get to the bottom of it.
However, we may never know since a plea deal agreed to by Epstein in 2008 may prevent a prosecution going ahead. Currently the prosecution states that the deal only applied to the state of Florida but allegedly the deal states the whole of the USA. That being the case, Ghislaine Maxwell will walk free.
Keep an eye on our blog for updates on this story.
West Midlands Polygraph Examiners
If you’d like some advice from our West Midlands polygraph examiners or want to book a West Midlands lie detector test, call our Free Helpline. Alternatively you can book a test online using our secure reservation system.
