(NewsInsights.org) – Jeffrey Epstein died in 2019 while awaiting trial, but more than four years later, there’s still mystery surrounding his associates. US District Judge Loretta Preska issued an order on Monday, December 18, that will unseal hundreds of documents on January 2, 2024. Related to the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell and a lawsuit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, they could reveal as many as 170 Epstein associates. The judge believed the courts could release the documents to the public now that they have resolved both cases.
In her decision, Preska noted that documents would reveal the identities of litigation witnesses, abuse victims, several of Epstein’s employees, and individuals Epstein and Maxwell knew socially, most of whom have no actual association with their crimes. The judge also took into consideration that several abuse victims had given public interviews before and during litigation.
However, Preska still moved to block the release of 10 victims’ identities, since they had been abused as minors and continued to protect their privacy. She also provided others who might suffer effects from the release the opportunity to object during the 14 days between her order and the pending release. In response, eight individuals filed court documents asking to remain anonymous. Currently, documents refer to them as J. Does 12, 28, 97, 107, 144, 147, 171, and 183.
Parts of several of the documents were publicly available during Maxwell’s trial, but portions of the records remained sealed to protect witnesses and victims’ privacy. A jury found Maxwell guilty of sex trafficking, transporting a minor for sexual activity, and three counts of conspiracy to commit completed crimes. Several victims, including Giuffre, sued Maxwell for damages in civil court, and some of the documents also resulted from those suits.
Epstein died while in federal custody in Manhattan, New York, awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex. Arrested on July 6, 2019, Epstein requested to post a $100 million bond, which Judge Richard Berman denied on July 18, 2019, because the billionaire constituted a flight risk. He died in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10. The coroner ruled his death an apparent suicide.
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