Shaking In terror, she stumbled towards the ocean from the rocky outcrop.
She was repeatedly raped three times a day by Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire abuser. He kept his hideaway in the Caribbean on Paedo Island.
Sarah Ransome was a captive, despite being thousands of miles from home in Britain. She had suffered abuse and starvation, making her essentially a prisoner. To escape, she was ready to put her life at risk.
“I knew that sharks were in the waters, but I had no choice but to flee,” she said. The sharks provided a nice alternative to what I was going through. At that point, death was preferable to another rape.
But as she prepared for the plunge in the waters of the Blue Sea, it was the loud roaring sound of a quadbike. It was Epstein’s friend Ghislaine Maxwell, who was seated on it.
“She put her hand on mine and said, “It’s okay honey.” Bring it along. “Come with me.”
Sarah Maxwell, 37 years old, is giving a full account in an exclusive world interview of how she claimed she was lured to Epstein’s world through a sophisticated sexual abuse network.
Sarah Ransome (pictured) claims she was lured into Jeffrey Epstein’s world by what she calls a ‘sophisticated sexual abuse network’, which, she alleges, included Ghislaine Maxwell
Six charges for sex abuse, and trafficking in sex are being brought against Ms Maxwell (59). If convicted, she could spend her remaining days behind bars.
She has pleaded no guilty to all charges.
Sarah’s striking red attire on the Courthouse Steps on Day One of her Trial made international headlines.
According to her, she told The Mail that she was forced to leave her village home in northern England on Sunday because Ms Maxwell abused four girls when she was 14 and two of them were 14. She also said she wanted to “look at Ghislaine in their eyes” if she’s convicted.
Sarah stated, “It is a matter principle. Jeffrey and Sarah were constant threats to my life for many years. I’ll rent a tent to sleep in on the courthouse steps until the verdict is handed.
‘I want her and her family to know that when she is sentenced, I will be there. I desire justice to be served.
Sarah’s tale is unusual in some aspects. Epstein preyed on children from poor backgrounds most of whom were victims.
Sarah was, however, from an educated background. She was born into an aristocratic Scottish family – her maternal grandfather was Lord Gordon Macpherson, second baron of Drumochter.
When she was young, her parents divorced. Sarah’s father left her for South Africa and Sarah’s mother, an alcoholic, was not able to support her. Sarah moved in with her uncle and aunt just south of Inverness. Sarah attended Grantown-on-Spey grammar School.
After that, she was offered a spot at Edinburgh University. However, after falling in love with a violent boyfriend and losing her money, she dropped out.
Sarah was headline-grabbing when she was photographed in a red dress (pictured above) at the courthouse’s first day of Ms Maxwell’s trial.
A friend of her brother had sexually assaulted her and she described herself as a ‘broken soul’. She admits that she was “perfect prey” in this way.
She was also broke after her rich grandfather divorced and she stopped being supported by her mother.
When she was 22 she left her home in Connecticut to pursue a career as a lawyer. “I was young, and foolish. I didn’t know anyone. She says she didn’t know what viper’s nest it was.
She arrived in Manhattan two weeks later and was at Quo, a Manhattan nightclub where she met a young lady named Natalya.
Sarah says, “She was about my age. I was thrilled to meet a friend.” “She wanted to know all about me, my family, and where I was living in New York.
She asked me everything, from my loneliness to my hopes and dreams about studying fashion. My number was requested by her and I provided it. That seemed to be the easiest thing in the entire world.
Natalya called Natalya within days to tell her: “I know this wonderful guy who is extremely wealthy. He is a great philanthropist who helps many young girls reach their goals. He’d love to have a conversation with you.
Sarah was later that week seated next to Epstein in the cinema. “There were ten young, beautiful girls there with him,” she said.
“When I look back, I realize that I was being targeted for my vulnerability. It was lonely in the city. I had already confessed that I was a lost soul.
Jeffrey was charming and charismatic. His genuine interest in me was evident.
‘He homed in on my background, just like Natalya had – why did I want to study fashion, where in the UK was I from, did I have siblings? Although he was an old man, I did not view him as one. Because there were many of my peers, I felt secure.
“They looked happy and well-groomed.
“In my foolishness, I felt thankful that I had landed on my own feet and met these new friends.
“I didn’t know I was being trained to go to hell.”
Sarah was contacted by Natalya the week after.
“She said that Jeffrey’s Island was being used as a weekend getaway for girls. Do you want to join me? She recalls.
The private jet would depart within the day. I didn’t have to take anything, as all I needed was there. Who would’ve thought a 22-year old could say no to that? It seemed like I was going to win the lottery.
Sarah said that Sarah was actually about to enter the paedophiles’ lair.
Epstein’s 727 private jet was her transport, nicknamed “the Lolita Express” and flew her down to the island.
Photo of Ms Maxwell with Epstein: She is currently being tried in New York on six counts of sex abuse, and sex trafficking. If convicted, she could spend her remaining days behind bars.
Virginia Roberts is Prince Andrew’s accuser. She claims she flew on the same jet as Prince Andrew to Epstein’s 70-acre island, ‘Little St James.
Ms Roberts alleges she was ‘sex trafficked’ to the Prince when she was 17 and was forced to sleep with him at Ms Maxwell’s London home, in New York – and on the island.
All allegations made against the Prince have been denied by him. The Prince claimed in a BBC Newsnight interview that he can’t recall ever having met Ms Roberts.
He has now admitted to having traveled on Epstein’s plane and as The Mail On Sunday revealed, flight logs showed that Epstein flew on the “Lolita Express” at least four times. This includes a trip to the island.
While Sarah was never on the island with Andrew and makes no suggestion he was in any way involved in – or even aware of – the events that happened to her, she gave an insight into what life was like for the girls in Epstein’s orbit.
It was a four-hour journey from New York’s Teterboro Airport into St Thomas that emitted the first warning sound.
Epstein was shocked to ask one of the girls for foot massages. He even asked Sarah for a foot massage.
She claims that a photo of Ms Maxwell massaging Epstein’s feet aboard a plane was taken by her today. This evidence was presented in court.
‘When I saw that picture I threw up a bit in my mouth,’ she says.
“I suffer from post-traumatic stress. I saw that photo, Ghislaine and Epstein, and it brought me back. It makes me sick to even think about.
Sarah fell asleep during the flight while the rest of the girls didze off or feigned sleeping. However, Sarah was woken up by the loud moans of a bed to the rear of her jet. “Epstein had been having sex openly with one of them,” she said. She says they didn’t hide anything.
“I was horrified. I have never seen anything quite like it before.”
“But no one said any of it. Other girls kept their heads down. Jeffrey, the boy and the girl left after it was over. They dressed up as though nothing had ever happened.
Sarah’s passport was and her mobile phone confiscated upon arrival on the island.
The other girls and Sarah were deeply uneasy, so they moved into a bungalow located away from their main residence. Sarah enjoyed dinner that night on Sarah’s patio overlooking the ocean.
“Jeffrey was next to me, and he said that he wanted a foot rub,” she recalls. He called me names because it wasn’t done correctly. I was shown how by another girl.
Sarah received a call from her nightclub friend the next day, saying that Jeffrey wanted to meet with you.
The woman was taken to Epstein’s main bedroom, and he entered the room wearing a simple white robe.
“That was the night that he first raped and raped” I was instructed to remove my clothes and lie on the massage table.
He said that he was going to show you how to be one.
“I sobbed and shouted for him stop.”
Epstein led Sarah towards her bedroom when the rape ended. A second girl, waiting in the shadows behind her bedroom door, waited for Sarah as she opened.
Sarah suffered sexual abuse every day while she was on the island. Often, Sarah would be abused two to three times per day.
Sarah said she was repeatedly raped by Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire abuser. He kept her on “Paedo Island”, his Caribbean hideaway.
Almost unbelievably, she then moved in with Epstein to an apartment and continued the abuse.
Epstein’s death threats and the promise of a seat at a highly regarded fashion school put her in an emotional spiral that, according to her, caused her to be entrapped in a web surrounded by abuse.
“Jeffrey said to me that he would murder me and my family if i told anybody. I was financially dependent upon him. She says she believed that he would still help her get into fashion school.
It was on this island that she met Maxwell for the first time. «Jeffrey assured me she would do whatever I asked.
Sarah brought a civil suit against Ms Maxwell, and other defendants. The case was dismissed in court.
Laura Menninger was Ms Maxwell’s lawyer and she strongly denied that she was involved with any abuse in the lawsuit. She said, “This is not and will not be a sextrafficking case.” The story is about a consensual, brief relationship between two adults.
“Ms Ransome might have regretted her consensual relationship to Mr Epstein, but this does not mean that she was the victim or Ms Maxwell is somehow responsible for unlawful sextrafficking.
Sarah claims she is as guilty of Epstein as she was Ms Maxwell.
A 58-page house ‘rulebook,’ which was admissible as evidence during Maxwell’s trial, was among the items that were admitted.
Sarah said: “We were told that we would see nothing. The other girls couldn’t understand what I was talking about. One girl was a ballerina and I saw her when she came close. She disappeared.
“I thought that she had died. She is still alive, and I was able to reconnect with her. I was constantly afraid.
Sarah claims Ms Maxwell also ‘bullied her’ about her weight. She was 5ft 9in and weighed 10st 5. Her diet consisted of tomatoes and cucumbers.
“I was hungry every day.” Ghislaine assured me I was healthy.
Epstein brought Sarah to see a psychiatrist, who prescribed strong antidepressant medications. Sarah claims that this left Sarah in an even more vulnerable position because she had been ‘drugged up.
Sarah says that Ms Maxwell was present ‘constantly in Epstein’s universe. “She tried to say she was outside Epstein’s world when I was there in 2006 and 2007 but she was still a constant presence.
“She was a Jekyll and Hyde Character.” You could find her mean and kind at the same time.
Sarah believes that Ms Maxwell used “intermittent reinforcement” to control Epstein’s victims. This psychological term refers to manipulation used to ‘bond a victim’ to an abuser.
Girls who ‘satisfied’ Epstein’s depraved cravings would be given designer handbags, treated to £500 sessions at the hair salon and some were even given free dental work, including expensive crowns.
Sarah was promised by Epstein that she would be paid to attend New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. He also said that his friends would make sure Sarah got in.
Sarah mentions that Ghislaine would blow hot and cold. She oscillated between madam boss lady or nurturing mother figure.
“She was kind, smiley, charming and what I called the “Gracious Ghislaine” side of her. That’s the face that celebrities saw. However, she can also become angry or cruel.
Sarah was afraid of Epstein’s strong friends. ‘There were photos everywhere of him with presidents, the Pope and world leaders, as well as royalty. It scared me that if I said anything, he would kill me as he had threatened.
Sarah claimed that she felt she needed to move from north England to meet Ghislaine, if she’s convicted. Photo: Epstein and Ms Maxwell in 2005
Sarah thinks Epstein’s influential friends, Prince Andrew included, were continuously monitored by hidden cameras.
Jeffrey hated smoking and lit one cigarette. She recalls.
“When I was trying to escape, I intentionally chose a remote location yet Ghislaine’s security guards arrived immediately.
“Jeffrey told me once, “I have tapes from every person ever to be on my properties.”
Sarah also refused to travel to Epstein’s house another time. Shortly after, he travelled in a limousine with her. He drew up in a limo with her shortly afterwards.
Epstein’s pilots claimed they had never witnessed any abuse during their testimony before the court. Sarah said, “I don’t know how anybody can be around Jeffrey without realizing what was happening.”
“I had dinner once with a Silicon Valley major and found that there were several pre-pubescent girls around the table. Is it possible that so many people turned their backs on what was happening?
Epstein was known to have raped his victim in New York Townhouse’s foyer. This is the exact property from which the Duke of York was famously seen peering through the front oak door, 15 feet high.
It is not possible to prove that Prince Andrew witnessed criminal behavior. In fact, the Prince insists that he did not see anything leading him to believe Epstein was abusing young girls.
Sarah fled England in May 2007 after Epstein had assaulted her repeatedly. It was a simple matter of running. It was too much.
Calling her mother, she bought her return flight to Heathrow. Sarah was terrified and moved 47 times over the following years.
Epstein, who was indicted on 2019 child sex allegations, celebrated. In jail, he then took his own life.
She said, “We survived never had our day in the courtroom but it was when he passed that I felt secure.” “I couldn’t stop looking at my shoulder.”
She thinks Ms Maxwell is guilty. According to her, Ghislaine allowed Jeffrey to do the things he did. She believes she is evil. This woman is a narcissist, who believes she’s done nothing wrong. We were insignificant to her. I pray for justice.
“This was an intricate trafficking operation, and a spider’s net. Because I was approached and swayed by young girls, I was lured into the trap. The energy only changed when I got trapped on an island.
“I was physically and mentally raped.” It was difficult for me to find the strength to speak about this.
Sarah wrote Silenced No More and it will be published this week in the UK.
When the Maxwell trial ends – it is scheduled to last until around Christmas – she plans to return home and work helping other rape survivors.
She said, “I pray justice will come in court,” but she added, “but I’m a spiritual person, and whatever happens, Ghislaine’s soul will burn forever.”
Sarah Ransome has published Silenced no More: Surviving my Journey to Hell And Back (HarperOne).