Judge to unseal names of Jeffrey Epstein associates, victims

More than 150 people named in a civil lawsuit against Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell have until Jan. 1 to appeal the order before the documents are made public. A federal judge in New York on Monday ordered the documents to be unsealed after spending several years reviewing the records. Judge Loretta A. Preska wrote that many identified people have given media interviews or been named publicly. The list likely includes the names of some of the sexual abuse victims, co-conspirators, and associates of the late financier. The judge has decided to keep confidential portions of the records that identify people who were children when Epstein sexually abused them.

Which case are the documents from? The records are part of a civil case Virginia Giuffre brought in 2015 alleging that Maxwell facilitated the sexual abuse of Giuffre. That case was settled in 2017. Judge Preska in 2020 unsealed other documents in the case, including Maxwell’s deposition. A jury in December of 2021 convicted Maxwell on sex trafficking charges. The 61-year-old is serving a 20-year prison sentence. 

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Emily Belz and Esther Eaton’s report on Epstein’s 2019 sex trafficking trial.