Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Photo / AP
Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Photo / AP
Ghislaine Maxwell's 20-year prison sentence finally delivers some measure of justice to the victims of the child sex trafficking ring she ran with Jeffrey Epstein.
But the job is not finished.
While Epstein is dead and Maxwell is behind bars, their clients – the rich and powerful people who abusedthe girls under their control – remain free and unidentified.
Monica Lewinsky summed up the situation succinctly today in four words: "Now do the men."
Her sentencing today was met with a similar sentiment around the world.
"Who were Ghislaine Maxwell's rich, powerful and (sometimes) famous clients?" wrote broadcaster Piers Morgan.
"We should be told. It wasn't just her and Epstein engaged in this criminal sexual conduct. We need names."
"Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in a US prison, yet not one of the clients has been jailed," said fellow broadcaster Sophie Corcoran.
"Who are the clients? Who was she getting the girls for? Justice is not complete until every one of Epstein's clients is jailed. Justice doesn't stop at Maxwell.
Ghislaine Maxwell with Jeffrey Epstein. Photo / US District Court for the Southern District of New York
"It's just the beginning. We want the names of the perverted elites who were the clients."
"I want names. All the other names," said comedian Dana Goldberg.
"If Ghislaine Maxwell is guilty of child sex trafficking, there's a list of her clients who participated in this proven trafficking," said author and columnist Tim Young.
"MAKE THEIR NAMES PUBLIC AND ARREST THEM ALL."
"I'm 100 per cent behind the sentencing of Ghislaine Maxwell, but where are all the men who used these young girls?" asked British Olympian Sharron Davies.
"When do the prosecutions begin of those powerful men who flew on the Lolita Express?" wondered newspaper columnist Allison Pearson, referring to Epstein's private jet.
"I must have missed the arrests. Or is a woman solely responsible for rapes?"
"I don't want to live in a society that demands every detail of the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp case, but is somehow content without a single name from the Ghislaine Maxwell client list," said YouTuber and podcaster Blaire White.
And so forth.
The sixteen John Does
Back in January, Maxwell's lawyers said she would no longer fight to protect the identities of eight people, potentially clients of the trafficking conspiracy, whose names had been redacted in a deposition released to the public.
The deposition came from a civil defamation lawsuit Guiffre filed against Maxwell in 2015, which ended in a settlement two years later.
In a ruling in September of last year, US District Judge Loretta Preska revealed there were a total of 16 non-party objectors in the case, meaning people who were not party to the lawsuit but objected to their identities being released.
Guiffre's lawyers want their identities unsealed.
"Aversion to embarrassment and negativity that may come from being associated with Epstein and Maxwell is not enough to warrant continued sealing of information. This is especially true with respect to this case of great public interest, involving serious allegations of the sex trafficking of minors," her team argued.
"Now that Maxwell's criminal trial has come and gone, there is little reason to retain protection over the vast swathes of information about Epstein and Maxwell's sex trafficking operation that were originally filed under seal in this case."
Annie Farmer, who testified against Ghislaine Maxwell at trial, speaks to members of the media outside federal court in New York today. Photo / AP
Judge Preska decided to deal with eight of the names first, then move on to the other eight, determining whether their right to privacy outweighed the public's right to know.
"Each of the listed Does has counsel who have ably asserted their own respective privacy rights. Maxwell therefore leaves it to this court to conduct the appropriate review," Maxwell's lawyers said in January.
Should the names be unsealed, it could lead to a number of civil lawsuits.
"It's not over for the survivors, and we'll see new lawsuits against Epstein's co-conspirators – the men who willingly accepted the girls to abuse them," Professor Marci Hamilton, founder of a thinktank focusing on the protection of children, told The Guardian in February.
Maxwell 'must die in prison'
In her statement to the court before her sentencing, Maxwell painted herself as someone who had been manipulated by Epstein.
"It is the greatest regret of my life that I ever met Jeffrey Epstein," she said.
"I believe that Jeffrey Epstein was a manipulative, cunning and controlling man who lived a profoundly compartmentalised life and fooled all those in his orbit."
Sarah Ransome (left) and Elizabeth Stein, both victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, leave the federal courthouse in New York today. Photo / AP
Speaking outside court, another of the pair's victims, Sarah Ransome, slammed her for continuing to avoid taking responsibility.
"After all of this, how can the five-star general of this enormous sex trafficking conspiracy, involving so many co-conspirators, that snared hundreds if not thousands of vulnerable girls and young women over three decades, continue to maintain her innocence?" she said.
"I have spent the last 17 years in my own prison for what she, Jeffrey and all the co-conspirators did to me.
"I was raped repeatedly. Three times a day, sometimes. And I was not the only girl; there was a constant stream of girls being raped over and over and over again.
"Ghislaine must die in prison. Because I've been to hell and back in the last 17 years."
Addressing her victims in the courtroom, Maxwell said Epstein "should have stood before you years ago".
"He should have spared victims the years of chasing justice," she said.
"To you I say: I am sorry for the pain you experienced. I hope my conviction, along with my harsh incarceration, brings you closure. I hope this brings the women who have suffered some measure of peace and finality."
