Ghislaine Maxwell’s family was treated ‘like royalty’ while I was left out in the cold court outside, accuser says

AN alleged victim of Ghislaine Maxwell was out after she was forced to wait in the cold to take part in the trial – while the social media site’s family was escorted “like royalty”.

Liz Stein, 48, who says she was abused by Britons and Jeffrey Epstein for three years, was forced to take a two-hour bus ride to the Manhattan trial from her home in Philadelphia.

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She often had to wait in line outside then sat in the back of a flooded courtroom to watch the proceedings – as the jury brought up six sex-trafficking charges against the British heiress.

Meanwhile, Maxwell’s siblings were allowed straight inside and sat in court every day.

Miss Stein told Miami Herald: “We had to wait and wait to get into the back row of a flooded courtroom – and Maxwell’s sister and brothers were ushered into the courtroom every day like royalty.

“It’s hard to understand why the family of an alleged sex abuser gets to sit in the front row when the victims can’t even get into the courtroom.”

Yesterday, a New York jury was present for their fifth day of deliberations in Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial, which could land her up to 70 years in prison.

Judge Alison Nathan expressed concern about the “astronomical spike” of Covid cases in New York and said she could ask jurors to work within their allotted hours, saying that the trial is now “at risk”.

Maxwell is accused of procuring women, some of them underage, for a sex ring operated by her boyfriend Epstein, and also engaging in abuse.

Ms. Stein sat at trial with a backpack containing two Victoria’s Secret nightgowns and a black Escada evening gown, which she said was given to her by Maxwell and Epstein.

She was a 21-year-old college student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 1994 – when she met Maxwell while interning at Henri Bendel, a luxury women’s boutique in Manhattan.

She said: “We had immediate success, she was very attractive – that’s something we’ve heard from other victims.

“I called Maxwell’s office to arrange for delivery of her items, and I was directed to have them delivered to a hotel in midtown Manhattan.

“When I got to the hotel, I went to drop them off at the concierge, but was told to take them to the bar, where she was sitting with Jeffrey Epstein.”

The couple, she said, expressed interest in her fashion career and invited her to their room.

Ms. Stein told the Miami Herald: ‘This is the first time they have assaulted me. They are so dazzling. They make me feel like there’s no one else in the universe but me.”

She was abused by them continuously for three years, she said, but kept everything a secret.

‘FAT’

Ms. Stein added: ‘These are secrets I’ve kept for decades and can’t tell anyone. When Epstein was arrested and on all the news, I realized that it wasn’t just me.

“That’s part of the shame – you think these things just happen to you.

“I am sick of knowing how many more women this has happened to… what continues to create about the culture of silence is absolutely true.

“Emotional manipulation isn’t something you can describe to someone – it’s not something that can produce any kind of rationality – it’s a fear you still have decades later.” .

Ms. Stein said Maxwell and Epstein promised to connect her with the right people in the fashion industry.

She added: “I am reeling with the consequences of what happened decades later. It changed my life. “

Ms. Stein wrote to the US attorney’s victim coordinator on November 23, before the trial began, to request a spot to observe.

The next day, she received a brief response stating that she was “not listed as a victim”.

“I think it’s horrible,” she said. So terrible. Anyone who is a victim of this crime should be treated with at least the same respect as the defendant’s family – at least the same respect. “

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