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Ghislaine Maxwell was physically abused by a jail guard during a pat down search and is “withering to a shell” behind bars, dropping weight and losing her hair, an attorney for the accused madam said in court papers filed Tuesday.
In the letter to Judge Alison Nathan, Maxwell’s attorney complained about conditions she faces at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, including sleep deprivation, inedible food and the alleged abuse by a jail guard.
The letter states Maxwell is subject to constant searches — about four per day — and surveillance by jail guards, which she claims is to make up for the Bureau of Prisons’ failure to protect her alleged cohort, Jeffrey Epstein, from killing himself in 2019.
“Ms. Maxwell continues to be at the mercy of a revolving group of security officers who are used to guarding hundreds of inmates but now focus their undivided attention exclusively on one respectful, middle-aged female pretrial detainee,” Maxwell’s attorney, Bobbi Sternheim, wrote.
“Recently, out of view of the security camera, Ms. Maxwell was placed in her isolation cell and physically abused during a pat down search. When she asked that the camera be used to capture the occurrence, a guard replied ‘no.’ When Ms. Maxwell recoiled in pain and when she said she would report the mistreatment, she was threatened with disciplinary action,” Sternheim added.
Guards then forced Maxwell to clean a shower with a broom as retaliation for reporting the abuse, the letter claims.
The letter was filed in response to a message by prosecutors about Maxwell’s jail conditions. Judge Nathan in December ordered prosecutors to submit written updates about Maxwell’s lockup conditions every 60 days after she complained about them in a separate letter.
Sternheim added in the note that Maxwell is woken constantly during the night because guards flash a light at the ceiling of her isolation cell every 15 minutes.
She’s also withering away due to inedible food and grimy water dispensed at the jail.
“She is withering to a shell of her former self – losing weight, losing hair, and losing her ability to concentrate,” Sternheim wrote.
“Having been incarcerated in de facto solitary confinement for 225 days and monitored by two to six guards 24 hours a day with a handheld camera dedicated to capturing her every move, except when it would record improper conduct on the part of the guards, it is not surprising that Ms. Maxwell feels she is detained under the control of the Bureau of ‘Pretrial Punishment’,” the letter states.
Maxwell is awaiting trial in Manhattan federal court for allegedly procuring underage girls for Epstein to abuse and lying about her relationship with him under oath.
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