One of Maxwell's alleged victims, Annie Farmer, spoke by phone and asked the judge to keep her behind bars.
Jeffrey Epstein's former confidante Ghislaine Maxwell made her first appearance in front of a federal judge Tuesday, one week after she was arrested on charges that she recruited underage girls for Epstein to sexually abuse. Maxwell pleaded not guilty, and asked to be released on bail as she awaits trial.
In a dramatic move, one of Maxwell's alleged victims, Annie Farmer, spoke by phone and asked the judge to keep her behind bars.
"She has demonstrated contempt for our legal system by committing perjury," Farmer said, according to NBC New York, adding, "Those that survived implore this court that she be detained pending trial."
Maxwell's defense attorneys asked for $5 million bail and house arrest in New York. They argued that Maxwell is not a flight risk and pointed out that she could have left the United States at any time during the last year when her whereabouts were a mystery following Epstein's suicide.
But prosecutors countered that she is skilled at hiding and may flee America if she is released on bail. They pointed out that, on the day of her arrest at her sprawling New Hampshire estate, FBI agents had to break down the door of her million dollar home.
They claim Maxwell tried to flee to another room in the house, and that she had a cell phone wrapped in tin foil — a misguided effort to evade detection.
Maxwell has denied wrongdoing.
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