Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘pimp’ Ghislaine Maxwell may be in hiding at pedo pal’s ranch in New Mexico where girl, 16, was abused
GHISLAINE Maxwell may be hiding out at Jeffrey Epstein's ranch in New Mexico after she asked a judge to move a sex assault case against her to the state, court docs show.
Ms Maxwell, 58, is accused of attacking Annie Farmer, then 16, with ex-boyfriend Epstein – the pedophile financier who died last year while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
The Brit socialite, daughter of disgraced media mogul Robert Maxwell, made a request to move the civil case brought by Farmer in legal documents filed in New York last week, reports the Daily Mail.
Farmer, now aged 40, is seeking undisclosed damages from both the 58-year-old and Epstein's $634m estate.
Maxwell, who denies the claims, is demanding the case be brought to New Mexico because the alleged attack is said to have happened there at the pedophile's Zorro ranch.
The state also has a three-year statute of limitations meaning Farmer's case would be thrown out of court.
A lawyer for the Brit, who was raised in Oxford, argues that the 1996 allegation “expired sometime in 1999” insisting she brought the claim “years too late.”
Speculation about Maxwell's whereabouts have been rife since Epstein's arrest last July and his death in prison, said to be from hanging, in August.
She was reportedly staying in Massachusetts at the time of her former lover's imprisonment before popping up in a photograph at a fast food restaurant in California.
Since then, her movements have been a mystery although there have been reports she is hiding out at the New Mexico ranch.
CRIMINAL PROBE
Maxwell is accused of procuring young women for her lover leading to her being branded his “madam” - allegations which are the subject of a criminal probe in New York.
She denies all allegations of sexual misconduct made against her.
Farmer alleges that in spring of 1996 the British socialite touched her private parts without her consent during a massage at Epstein's ranch.
The alleged victim also claims that Maxwell exposed her breast to her.
In the court docs, filed last Thursday, the 58-year-old's lawyer states that the “complaint is years too late, lacks the required specificity, and is filed in the wrong court.”
The paper continues: “It describes events that allegedly occurred nearly three decades ago, and it details alleged conduct by Mr. Epstein while referring to Ms. Maxwell as an afterthought.
“When the complaint does allege conduct by Ms. Maxwell, it alleges conduct that occurred in New Mexico, not New York.
"This Court, therefore, should dismiss the complaint or transfer the case against Ms. Maxwell to the District of New Mexico.”
Five days after the docs were filed, Maxwell's attorney Laura Menninger asked to delay the civil case because it could interfere with the ongoing criminal case against the socialite.
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Maxwell is being probed by federal prosecutors in New York over allegations she recruited and groomed underage girls for her former lover.
Farmer lawyer David Boises branded the request to delay “meritless” and “another attempt to unjustifiably delay this litigation", reports the Mail.
In March, Maxwell sued Epstein's estate seeking compensation for legal fees and security while claiming she knew nothing of his crimes.
New York-born hedge fund manager Epstein - who was friends with Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump - is believed to have molested dozens of young girls and was jailed in Florida in 2008 for having sex with a child.
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