Federal law enforcement officials have taken precautions to make sure Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, does not kill herself while in custody.
An unnamed official said Maxwell, 58, had her clothes and sheets taken away and that they made her wear paper attire while in custody at a federal jail in New York City, according to a Thursday report by the Associated Press. The Justice Department also implemented additional security measures to keep her safe from herself and other inmates.
“We have a number redundancy systems to monitor the situation,” Attorney General William Barr told ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas regarding Maxwell’s safety. “I believe very strongly in that case, and I was very proud of the work done by the department, the Southern District, on that case.”
Maxwell, a British socialite, was arrested by the FBI in New Hampshire last week on charges of conspiracy to entice minors, enticement of a minor, conspiracy to transport minors, transportation of a minor, and perjury. Investigators said Maxwell played a “critical role” in assisting Epstein in grooming underage girls.
Epstein, a registered sex offender and wealthy financier, was arrested in July 2019 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges for allegedly abusing girls as young as 14. The 66-year-old was found dead in his Manhattan prison cell in August, which the New York City medical examiner determined to be a suicide.
Maxwell is not being held in the same prison Epstein was at when he took his own life.
