More details are emerging about Ghislaine Maxwell‘s prison conditions, indicating that she has little access to hygiene products or other comforts. Maxwell is accused of aiding in Jeffrey Epstein‘s alleged sex trafficking ring and is being held under strict conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. Her friends and lawyers told The Daily Mail that she could not have soap, a toothbrush, or a bra in her prison cell.
Maxwell is under close supervision and suicide watch following the death of Epstein himself in federal custody, which is why she is not allowed to have a bra. As for the hygiene products, authorities said that it is all a part of their effort to keep the 58-year-old alive until she can face trial, no matter what. Maxwell is also only allowed to leave her cell for 30 minutes and only three times per week at most.
Videos by PopCulture.com
As previous reports indicated, another surprising part of Maxwell’s imprisonment is her disrupted sleep schedule. Due to her suicide watch, guards must verify that Maxwell is alive every 15 minutes, meaning she is often awakened throughout the night. The sources said that guards shine a flashlight in Maxwell’s face to wake her up.
The insiders said that Maxwell has now lost 25 pounds in prison, likely due to a combination of sleep deprivation and changes to her diet. Maxwell is a long-time vegan, but her diet has reportedly not been accommodated by prison officials. Her confidants said she was given a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday.
Maxwell’s friends and lawyers say that these conditions are too harsh and continue their public calls for her to be released on bail. They say that Maxwell is not a flight risk, though federal judges disagree. Maxwell has a huge web of international connections, and they fear it would be too easy for her to flee to a place with favorable extradition laws.
Critics say that Maxwell’s alleged prison conditions fit the nature of her accusations, anyway. Maxwell is accused of soliciting sex from minors for Epstein, grooming young girls for prostitution, and transporting them to Epstein’s private island.
Epstein himself was found dead in his prison cell when arrested on related charges, and many critics were appalled that he was not watched more closely. This has even more scrutiny on the guards supervising Maxwell, which may account for her constant surveillance tales.