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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Abe Asher

Ghislaine Maxwell is teaching ‘etiquette classes’ in prison, report says

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Convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is reportedly teaching a four-week etiquette class at her Tallahassee, Florida prison.

“Taught by Mrs. Maxwell this course teaches the three principles of etiquette — focusing on respect, consideration and honesty,” a course description tacked to the wall at the Federal Correctional Institution reads, the Daily Mail reported on Monday.

The course reportedly runs for four weeks and covers all manner of etiquette issues that Ms Maxwell, a former socialite, is well versed in. Ms Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking and other offenses in connection with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Ms Maxwell, the son of media tycoon Robert Maxwell, was born in France and spent much of her childhood in Oxford where her family lived in the enormous Headington Hill Hall. That building is now part of the Oxford University campus.

Following a stint at university, Ms Maxwell was a significant player on the London social scene in the 1980s. She met Epstein towards or just after the end of that decade and began a romantic relationship with him that developed into a longterm relationship that ultimately saw Ms Maxwell groom young women for Epstein to abuse.

Ms Maxwell was arrested in 2020 and convicted in December of 2021. She complained about inhumane conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York where she was held after being arrested, but was transferred to the Florida facility in July.

Her course on etiquette has reportedly proved so popular that she is now offering it in both English and Spanish with the help of a Colombian inmate serving as translator.

The course is part of the First Step Act signed by former President Donald Trump aimed at reducing the prison population and rates of recidivism, meaning that incarcerated people who attend the course can take 15 days off the length of their sentence.

In addition to information on how to dress for a job interview, Ms Maxwell is also reportedly holding forth on feminism and female empowerment — even citing former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as an example of groundbreaking leadership.

The Daily Mail reported that Ms Maxwell is also teaching a yoga class and working in the prison library in addition to offering her etiquette class. Ms Maxwell is maintaining her innocence and appealing her conviction, but if that appeal is unsuccessful, she is expected to be held at the Florida facility until at least 2037.

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