Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein: Partners in Crime

Isolation Increases Vulnerability

Source: elifskies/pexels

Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial has ended and the jury has found her guilty on five federal charges related to child sex trafficking and the enticement of minors. Ghislaine is described as a “mastermind” in her role of locating, grooming, and arranging meetings between young girls and her companion/partner, convicted child predator, Jeffrey Epstein.

I have worked with survivors of childhood trauma for over three decades. At some point in the therapeutic process, many of my clients request to bring their perpetrator into a session with the specific purpose of asking the perpetrator the question, “why me?” Inevitably, the perpetrator answers “because you were the most vulnerable, you were the weakest.”

Similarly, when researchers interview convicted child molesters and ask how they find their victims, they confirm that they pick the child that appears the most vulnerable. They linger where children congregate, including parks, school playgrounds, and malls and within 15 seconds they can pick their next victim. They search and target the child who appears isolated and disconnected from the group and then they entice the child into a relationship by offering the promise of friendship. Creating a trusting relationship is a critical stage in the grooming process because it is precisely this trust that the perpetrator will manipulate and exploit.

It was estimated that Jeffrey Epstein engaged in three to four sexual encounters a day and it was Maxwell’s task to recruit, befriend, and groom young girls for the purpose of procuring sexual encounters for Epstein. Ghislaine was attractive, bright, charming, engaging, and educated. She wore high-fashion clothes and lived in a multimillion-dollar home located in prestigious Palm Beach, Florida. On the days that Ghislaine would look for her victims, she would drive in her limousine over the bridge to West Palm Beach, a less privileged community. Similar to the tactics of other perpetrators, she lingered near parks and school playgrounds with the specific goal of alluring young girls. She was accompanied by her Yorkie. Her small dog was the ploy used to attract attention and initiate a conversation with girls, many as young as 14 years old.

As with other perpetrators, Ghislaine Maxwell was skilled and proficient at exploiting these young girls’ vulnerabilities. All of her victims came from families that were stressed, struggling financially, and/or lacked resources. Many of the girls had a history of neglect and/or abuse and were below the legal age to give consent.

One victim, Virginia Roberts, stated that when she revealed to Ghislaine that she was sexually abused by her grandfather and her mother was an addict. Ghislaine grinned like a Cheshire cat. The metaphor of the Cheshire cat grin conjures up the image of a broad smile accompanied by an undertone of impending malice. For most adults, this young girl’s circumstances would evoke feelings of empathy and a desire to protect. However, this was not the case for Ghislaine. Instead, I would assume that Ghislaine experienced a sense of satisfaction since her mission had been accomplished; she had just found her newest victim. Virginia was young, alone, unprotected, and traumatized by the people in her family who were supposed to offer safety and shield her from harm. Maxwell knew that Virginia was the perfect victim.

Another victim, Jane, (the pseudonym she used in court to protect her identity), stated that Maxwell groomed her for almost a year. Ghislaine would visit her once or twice a week, bought her shopping for clothes, talked to her about her life and dreams, took her out to eat, and bought her gifts. To create the illusion of family and to imply a special relationship and deep bond, Ghislaine told Jane that she felt like her older sister. At times, Maxwell would offer Jane money and encourage her to take it because “her mother needed it.”

It is not unusual for the perpetrator to also groom their targeted victim’s mothers and other family members. Epstein and Maxwell invited Jane and her mother for tea at their Palm Beach estate. The meeting lasted for 30 minutes. Epstein told Jane’s mother that he was impressed with her daughter and thought she was very talented. He offered to sponsor her training and education. Epstein also co-signed a lease for Jane’s mother so she and her children could rent an apartment in Manhattan. For a mother who recently lost her husband to cancer, was struggling financially, and living with her children in a friend’s pool house, Epstein’s offer of sponsorship and support must have felt like a dream come true, a light in a very dark period of their life.

All of Epstein and Maxwell's victims share a similar story; they were told that they were being hired to give a massage to Jeffrey Epstein and would be paid $300. However, the massages soon escalated and turned sexual. For Jane, this was the first time that she had ever seen a naked man's body, her first sexual experience. She said that she felt terrified and ashamed. Maxwell was sometimes present and watched and other times she participated in sexual activity. One victim recollected that Ghislaine undressed in order to model and normalize the sexual activity.

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Epstein and Maxwell were involved in what has been called a “pyramid scheme of abuse.” It was a system used to recruit a steady stream of underaged girls for Epstein’s and Maxwell’s sexual exploits. Epstein would offer his current victim’s extra money for each girl they would recruit to give him “a massage.” When victims attempted to sever their involvement, in order to ensure their silence, Maxwell’s and Epstein’s would hire people to follow, harass, and even threaten them and/or their families. All the girls who testified stated they were frightened, confused, and feared for their lives, which pressured them to remain silent.

There are approximately 166 million women residing in the United States. According to statistics, one out of four women are sexually abused before the age of 18; that means approximately 41 million women in the US have a history of child sexual abuse. I am sure that, like my clients, many have been closely watching the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, waiting to see if the courts were going to continue to mirror the long-term denial of abuse in this country, thereby implicitly condoning and sanctioning the continued maltreatment of children. However, the verdict is in: Ghislaine has been convicted of five of the six counts related to child sex trafficking. For many of her victims, the purpose of coming forward to testify was not to seek revenge, for many survivors know that revenge does not bring solace. Instead, solace comes from being able to tell their story, be heard, and see their perpetrator being held accountable for their behaviors. What brings relief is the experience of being listened to and acknowledged, and a sense of justice in knowing that Ghislaine is being held accountable and even punished for the violence she committed—hence, ending her capacity to harm other children.