It is an important proposal that reflects the enormous magnitude of her crimes that the judge called “hateful”. In the weeks before her conviction, her lawyers presented arguments for her mitigation. Many of them were an extensive description of Maxwell’s unhappy childhood. Before you roll up your sleeves and say, “Oh, that explains it,” I’ll remind you of what Maxwell was convicted of: conspiracy to lure minors into unlawful sexual acts, conspiracy to transport minors with intent to engage in criminal sex of a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, conspiracy to commit child sex trafficking and child sex trafficking. One of the girls was 14 years old when Maxwell dragged her off the street into a life of heinous abuse. Now is definitely an unhappy childhood. Maxwell’s life was horrible in part, for sure. Her father, publisher Robert Maxwell, was one of the biggest scammers in British corporate history. Her older brother, Michael, had a car accident when Maxwell was two days old, leaving him with devastating injuries and unconscious until he died several years later. At the age of three, presumably suffering from anorexia, Maxwell told her mother: “Mom, I exist.” Her father was often absent even when he was an unbearable bully at home. In one case, she says she hit her hand with a hammer, leaving it bruised for weeks. They sent her to the boarding school. Her parents divorced when she was 20. Her father drowned mysteriously as authorities shut him down. He always said that he would not leave money to his children. But as you read this, you are probably thinking of people you know who have had some of these childhood experiences: the death of a brother, a tyrannical father. An entire class of Britons were sent to boarding schools. And in a whole other category of Britons there was never any money left from their parents. Did they spend years providing children for a rapist? Maxwell’s lawyers said of her background that “made her vulnerable to Epstein”. This speaks to the popular narrative that Maxwell’s crimes can be explained because she is the victim of two bullies. her father and Jeffrey Epstein. I have spent almost two years researching Maxwell for a TV series. I reject this narrative. She was a wicked, greedy, and corrupt criminal in her own right. He was an active accomplice in the seduction and trafficking of girls and participated in sexual assaults. She enjoyed the luxurious lifestyle offered in exchange by Epstein, who gave her, among many gifts, about $ 20 million, with which she bought a $ 17 million mansion in New York. Her lifestyle is breathtaking. flying in private jets between Epstein Mansion, New York’s largest private home, and its magnificent Caribbean island. Of course, the nature of Maxwell’s crimes is hard to believe. As a society, we find it difficult to accept that a woman will sexually assault other women. But it happens. Maxwell was a powerful woman who used her cunning and cleverness to commit crimes for years that brought her great wealth. Robert Maxwell can be blamed for many things: the robbery of his company pension system and his son Kevin who became the biggest bankrupt in British history. But Ghislaine Maxwell is to blame for her own crimes, not her father. If we believe in equality, we must treat male and female sexual predators equally. Why assume that the woman is not responsible for her actions and that the man is really responsible for her crimes? I drive a women ‘s college in Cambridge. I’m a feminist. I believe that women can be as good as men – and as bad as men. One of the interviewees in our documentary, The Making of a Monster, describes Maxwell’s attitude towards her victims. When, unaware of the sheer scale of what was happening, this woman expressed her concern about the very young women she was with Epstein, Maxwell told her, “It’s rubbish.” There is a relationship with her father. Robert Maxwell also treated women and men as rubbish. Someone who knew both of them told me, “When you grow up without a moral compass, you can’t have one later.” My favorite part of the mitigation statement states that later in life, Ghislaine founded a charity to save the oceans. It’s great to know that he really cared about the fish. Unfortunately, the oceans will not benefit from her altruism during her 20 years in prison. I think we can live with that.
Ghislaine Maxwell: The Making of a Monster will air on Channel 4 at 9pm on July 5th. Dorothy Byrne is a documentary filmmaker and president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words that will be considered for publication, please email [email protected]
