July 16, 2020 | 11:57am | Updated July 16, 2020 | 12:18pm
Ghislaine Maxwell was far worse than Jeffrey Epstein when it came to abusing young women and girls, according to their most outspoken accuser — in fact, she was “Gepetto” to his “Pinocchio.”
“She was pulling the strings,” Virginia Roberts Giuffre told “CBS This Morning” of Maxwell on Thursday, calling Maxwell the mastermind, and a “monster.”
“Ghislaine was much more conniving and smart than Epstein ever was,” Giuffre said.
“I know that woman. I’ve known her really well. Put it this way — Epstein was Pinocchio, and she was Gepetto.”
Giuffre had still more choice words for Maxwell.
“She is a monster. She’s worse than Epstein. She did things even worse than Epstein did. She was vicious. She was evil. And she’s a woman.”
Giuffre called Maxwell’s arrest two weeks ago, on charges that she recruited girls for Epstein, a moment that was “momentous” and “just surreal.”
“It’s one of those life moments that I’ll never forget.”
Also Thursday, it was revealed that Maxwell had secretly taken a husband in order to safeguard her fortune as prosecutors and lawsuit plaintiffs circled closer.
Maxwell’s claimed romantic connection to Epstein himself was also a sham, Christina Oxenberg, a cousin to the British royal family and a one-time pal of Maxwell, has said recently.
Giuffre has said in civil suits and interviews that she was “recruited” into Epstein’s revolving roster of young “slaves” by Maxwell when she was 16 years old.
She has accused Maxwell of ordering her to bed Prince Andrew three times when she was 17, a claim the prince has denied.
Maxwell remains held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
