The Lasting Harm: Lucia Osborne-Crowley in-conversation

I understand – and sympathise with – the feeling you might have that you already know the Jeffrey Epstein story. But I am not here to tell you a story about Jeffrey Epstein, or even Ghislaine Maxwell. I am here to tell you the stories of these women, many of whom have never spoken at length before, and about the real impact of sexual trauma on their lives. In December 2021, Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of five counts of sex-trafficking of minors, and is now serving 20 years in prison for the role she played in Jeffrey Epstein's abuse of four girls. The trial was meticulously covered by journalist and legal reporter Lucia Osborne-Crowley, one of only four reporters allowed into the courtroom every day. The Lasting Harm is her account of that trial, a gripping true crime drama and a blistering critique of a criminal justice system ill-equipped to deliver justice for abuse survivors, no matter the outcome. Centring the stories of four women and their testimonies, and supplemented by extra material to which Osborne-Crowley has exclusive access, The Lasting Harm brings this incendiary trial to life, questions our age-old appetite for crime and punishment, and offers a new blueprint for meaningful reparative justice.

Lucia Osborne-Crowley is an Australian-trained lawyer, legal reporter, journalist, essayist and author of I Choose Elena (2020), the Somerset Maugham Award–winning My Body Keeps Your Secrets (2021) and The Lasting Harm (2024). Her news reporting has appeared in ABC News, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, GQ Australia, Saturday Paper and Women's Agenda. Her long-form writing has appeared in The Lifted Brow and Meanjin. Lucia's forensic but accessible reporting of the Maxwell trial was described as some of the best and most trauma-informed coverage of the case, and it saw her social media following grow by over 35,000 followers. She has appeared as an expert journalist on the Maxwell and Prince Andrew cases on several news channels. She is currently working for Law360 as a court reporter from London.