One of Ghislaine Maxwell's victims has called for the socialite-turned pimp to "die in prison". Speaking outside court in New York ahead of Maxwell being jailed for 20 years for sex trafficking, Sarah Ransome said she had spent the "past 17 years in her own prison". She told Sky News: "I've been to hell and back."
Ms Ransome had earlier told the court in her victim impact statement that she had wanted to kill herself by jumping into shark-infested waters surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's "Paedo Island" rather than be raped again. Speaking about how she had arrived in New York aged 22, Ms Ransome wanted to start her life over after what she said was "an incredibly abusive relationship".
Ms Ransome said: "Soon after arriving, I met an Epstein/Maxwell recruiter named Natalya Malyshev in a club. She befriended me and, soon after that, arranged for me to meet Jeffery. She described him as a kind philanthropist who could help me get into FIT [Fashion Institute of Technology] and provide much-needed support, something which was alien to me.
"Over the next seven to eight months, I became, against my will, nothing more than a human sex toy with a heartbeat and soul for the entertainment of Epstein, Maxwell and others. Sometimes I was subjected to sexual predation multiple times per day, both in his New York mansion and on his private island, St Little James in the US Virgin Islands.
"On one visit to the island, the sexual demands, degradation and humiliation became so horrific that I tried to escape by attempting to jump off a cliff into shark-infested waters, but was caught by Maxwell and company moments before jumping. At the time, the extremely risky escape seemed more appealing than being raped one more time."
Ransome: Maxwell was Epstein's chief orchestrator - her telling TV interview
She added: "In several instances, Ghislaine by her own hand forced me into Epstein's room to be raped. Epstein and Maxwell were masters at finding young, vulnerable girls and young women to exploit. Upon targeting a vulnerable girl/young woman, they would ingratiate themselves to her, giving her compliments and small gifts, telling her how special she was.
"They would tell her that Epstein was a very wealthy, generous man whose primary purpose was to help the less fortunate. He and Maxwell were sophisticated, worldly adults with deep ties to important people, world leaders and institutions who could give her the lifeline she needed to make her dreams reality.
"However, soon after lulling me and others into a false sense of comfort and security, they pounced, ensnaring us in their upside-down, twisted world of rape, rape and more rape. Like Hotel California, you could check into the Epstein-Maxwell dungeon of sexual hell, but you could never leave."
