“On behalf of the Epstein victims we are thrilled that Ms. Maxwell has been brought to justice and we look forward to seeing her be held accountable for all that she has done.”
One of Jeffrey Epstein’s accusers is “ecstatic” over Ghislaine Maxwell’s arrest, as the British socialite also allegedly sexually abused her and left her with night terrors, the woman told The Post in an exclusive interview.
“When I woke up to the news, I was extremely ecstatic,” the 43-year-old victim, who is one of nine anonymous plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Epstein’s estate, told The Post.
Epstein’s alleged madame was arrested early Thursday in Bradford, N.H. on a federal indictment accusing her of grooming three underage victims for sex with Epstein in places including his Upper East Side townhouse, New Mexico, Florida and London.
The victim, who is choosing to conceal her identity, said: “I’m so grateful that she has finally been taken into custody and that the authorities have started working on bringing justice for the victims and myself.
“She deserves to be behind bars. I’m very happy and very emotional at the same time. It’s just a roller coaster of emotions.”
The woman added that it is especially meaningful to her because she claims that Maxwell, 58, personally sexually abused her after grooming her for Epstein with the abuse starting when she was 14 and continuing until she was 17 in the mid to late 1990s.
“She participated in the sexual abuse with Epstein. She was involved,” the victim alleged. “She penetrated me with sexual toys, with her fingers. She shaved my private area so that it was in the shape of the heart because she said men thought it was cute.”
Witnesses in Virginia Giuffre’s defamation case against Maxwell testified that Maxwell participated in three-way sex with Epstein and various victims including with Giuffre.
And before that, the victim claims Ghislaine “groomed” her when she was just 14.
“I wanted to be in modeling and that was the carrot dangling in front of me,” the woman said. “And if I wanted to be in modeling … I had to basically work my way to the top and that was doing things for Epstein.”
The woman said she wishes there were even more serious charges mounted against Maxwell.
“In my case, I feel that she should have charges the same as Jeffrey Epstein had. They were co-conspirators. They were side by side,” she said.
Epstein killed himself by hanging in a Lower Manhattan jail cell as he was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
“I am extremely excited that she is behind bars,” the victim said. “I’m not going to be overlooked anymore. What happened to me legitimately happened and to many others and we can finally have our voices heard.”
The abuse has had crippling effects on the woman to this day, including night terrors and causing the break-up of one of her three marriages, she said.
“It basically changed the trajectory of my life and it still effects me to this day. The things I had gone through with them, with her, the things that she has done to me,” she said.
“I have night terrors, it affects my marriage, it has affected my relationship with my children because some days I have emotional break-downs where I just can’t be the baseball, soccer mom all the time.
“Where I’m in my bedroom hiding because I’m shutting down and that’s something that I’m obviously working on with with a therapist,” she said adding that she also takes antidepressants and anxiety medications.
But the night terrors have been the worst for her, she said, and contributed to the break-up of her second marriage.
“Waking up in the middle of the night screaming thinking that I’m back in the clutches of Ms. Maxwell and Mr. Epstein,” she described.
“I believe she should be behind bars for the rest of her life,” the victim said of Maxwell. “I don’t know if I’ll ever feel safe or satisfied because obviously I can’t erase that portion of my life. I can only go through it but it’s a difficult process.”
The woman’s lawyer, Jordan Merson, told The Post, “On behalf of the Epstein victims we are thrilled that Ms. Maxwell has been brought to justice and we look forward to seeing her be held accountable for all that she has done.”
Another Epstein accuser, Jennifer Araoz, who has sued Maxwell as well as the 66-year-old hedge-funder’s estate, told The Post the new arrest could help bring other Epstein conspirators to justice.
“I honestly think that this is just the very beginning,” said Araoz, who claims she was raped by Epstein when she was just 15. “There is going to be a lot of culpability and a lot that will come down from her being arrested. It looks good for us survivors for all of us to get some closure finally.”
“I really didn’t think [her arrest] was going to come. I have been searching for her for a very long time,” Araoz said.
Maxwell’s criminal defense attorney, Lawrence Vogelman, declined to comment.
Original article written by Priscilla DeGregory and published in the NY Post.
