The family of Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, has launched a blistering attack on Ghislaine Maxwell in an open letter ahead of the jailed socialite's appearance at a US Congress hearing. The letter, penned by Giuffre's brother Sky Roberts and his wife Amanda, accuses Maxwell of helping to create 'a sadistic system' where young girls were sexually exploited by the rich and powerful.
In the letter, delivered to the US Congress's Oversight Committee just hours before Maxwell was due to give evidence via videolink, the couple wrote: 'Ghislaine Maxwell, you were not a bystander. You were not 'misled'. You were a central, deliberate actor in a system built to find children, isolate them, groom them, and deliver them to abuse.' They added: 'You used trust as a weapon. You targeted vulnerability and turned it into access. That is not a mistake. That is not poor judgment. That is predation.'
The letter also quoted Virginia Giuffre's own words: 'As Virginia said, 'Ghislaine was a monster; she was often more vicious and cruel than Epstein. Put it this way: Epstein was Pinocchio, and she was Geppetto. She was the guy controlling.'' It concluded with a final wish from Giuffre: 'We'll end this letter with Virginia's last wishes for you: 'Ghislaine, you deserve to spend the rest of your life in a jail cell. Trapped in a cage forever just like you trapped your victims.''
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking after being found guilty in 2021 for her role in helping Jeffrey Epstein abuse teenage girls. She was ordered to give evidence behind closed doors and under oath as part of the committee's inquiry. Giuffre had previously filed a civil defamation claim against Maxwell in 2015, which was settled two years later.
Prince Andrew, who paid a financial settlement to Giuffre in 2022 after she alleged he had sex with her when she was 17, has always denied the accusations. The Duke of York, now 65, paid a reported £12 million out of court. He maintains he never met Giuffre, who tragically took her own life in April last year at her remote home in Perth, Australia.
