A US judge has denied bail for Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime associate charged with luring young girls so the late financier could sexually abuse them.
Ms Maxwell earlier pleaded not guilty at a hearing in which women who accused her of enabling their abuse decried her "heinous" actions.
US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan rejected Ms Maxwell's bid for bail after prosecutors portrayed the wealthy socialite as an extreme flight risk on Tuesday.
The judge set a trial date for 12 July, 2021.
Prosecutors have accused Ms Maxwell of helping Epstein recruit and eventually abuse girls as young as 14 from 1994 to 1997 and lying about her role in depositions in 2016.
Ms Maxwell, 58, appeared by video from the Brooklyn jail where she is being held.
She appeared tired, with her hair pulled back, and was wearing a brown T-shirt and tortoiseshell glasses.
Arrested on 2 July, Ms Maxwell has been charged with six criminal counts, including four related to transporting minors for illegal sexual acts and two for perjury.
Prosecutors have said Ms Maxwell faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted.
Annie Farmer, who has accused Ms Maxwell of enabling her abuse, said during the hearing that the defendant "has never shown any remorse for her heinous crimes" and told the court "the danger Ms Maxwell poses must be taken seriously".
Donald and Melania Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, and British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at the Mar-a-Lago club in 2000. Source: Getty
"She is a sexual predator who groomed and abused me and countless other children and young women," Farmer told the court.
"Without Ghislaine, Jeffrey could not have done what he did," an unidentified accuser added in a statement.
This accuser said she knew Ms Maxwell for more than 10 years and still felt threatened, adding, "if she is out, I need to be protected".
Ms Maxwell's lawyers had sought a bail package including a $7.2 million (AUD) bond and home confinement with electronic monitoring.
However federal prosecutor Alison Moe argued Ms Maxwell was a flight risk.
"The defendant has the ability to live in hiding, she's good at it," Ms Moe said, adding that Ms Maxwell has demonstrated she can "live off the grid, indefinitely".
Ms Moe said it took a year after Epstein's arrest to find Maxwell.
Prosecutors said her wealth and multiple citizenships - American, French and British - also supported the need for continued detention.
Ms Maxwell was arrested in Bradford, New Hampshire, where authorities said she was hiding out at a 63-hectare property she bought in December in an all-cash transaction with her identity shielded.
"Not guilty, your honour," Ms Maxwell said after the judge asked her how she wished to plead to the charges.
Epstein was charged in July 2019 with sexually exploiting dozens of girls and women from 2002 to 2005 at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida.
He took his own life on 10 August at age 66 in a Manhattan jail.
Ms Maxwell's lawyers had also argued that bail was justified because she might contract COVID-19 in the Brooklyn jail.
