By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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Ghislaine Maxwell's mugshot has not been released to the media since her arrest on charges of grooming victims for sexual abuse by the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Here's why.
Prosecutors say the British socialite tried to flee when the FBI raided her remote house in New Hampshire in early July.
However, after they successfully brought her in and charged her with a 17-page indictment of child grooming and perjury offences, no custody image was released.
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Photos of suspects are sometimes given to the media but only in accordance with Department of Justice (DOJ) policy.
Rules state a mugshot can only be released if it serves a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
An FBI spokeperson told Newsweek: "We do not release mugshots absent a law enforcement purpose, for example, when a person is a fugitive."
Police are also permitted to release images when seeking witnesses who may only know a suspect by their face, not their name.
However, photos of Maxwell are widely available from photo libraries due to her many appearances on the red carpet and at official events.
Alleged victim Virginia Giuffre has also released a photo of the woman she claims was Epstein's accomplice.
In the image, Maxwell stands propped in a doorway at her London townhouse while, in the foreground, Prince Andrew has his arm around Giuffre.
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A photograph of Maxwell appears in the indictment, however, a DOJ source told Newsweek a "booking photo" was not used to avoid the risk of influencing a jury.
Material that could cause jurors to develop ideas of a defendant's guilt or innocence before a trial starts are considered prejudicial and therefore governed by specific rules.
Maxwell pleaded not guilty on July 14 and was denied bail after a judge ruled she had an "extraordinary capacity to avoid detection."
She now faces spending the next year in jail, currently the Metropolitan Detention Center, in Brooklyn, while she awaits trial in July 2021.
The daughter of British newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell last week faced seeing documents from a 2015 libel case brought against her by Giuffre and other victims unsealed.
They revealed claims Prince Andrew lobbied the U.S. government to help secure Epstein's plea deal, which saw him sentenced to just 18 months.
They also included allegations Bill Clinton traveled to the New York socialite's private island with two young girls, which he denies.
More documents had been due for release today, but Maxwell was granted permission to appeal the decision to make them public.
On Friday, two judges from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the depositions should be held back pending the outcome of the hearing set for September 22.
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