Judge bans lawyers from identifying victims of Epstein’s abuse

NEW YORK The judge presiding over the criminal case against a British socialite accused of recruiting teenage girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein for the purpose of sexual abuse said on Friday his lawyers are not allowed to publicly identify the accusers even if they spoke in a public forum.

Not all accusations or public statements are created equal, ”wrote US District Judge Alison J. Nathan in her ruling in the Ghislaine Maxwell case.

Deciding whether to participate or contribute to a criminal investigation or prosecution is a much different matter than simply making a public statement regarding “ Mrs. Maxwell or Jeffrey Epstein, especially since such a statement might have taken place there decades ago and have nothing to do with the charges. in that case.”

She said that women always maintain an important interest in privacy which must be safeguarded. “

Prosecutors had asked Nathan to prevent Maxwell’s lawyers from publicly identifying the women unless they identified themselves as participants in the criminal case. Otherwise, prosecutors said, women could be harassed or intimidated and become reluctant to cooperate with the government.

Nathan’s order came hours after newly unsealed court documents gave new insight into a fierce civil battle between Maxwell, who was Epstein’s former girlfriend, and one of the women who accused the couple of sexual abuse.

The documents released Thursday night came from a libel lawsuit now settled by one of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Giuffre has claimed in the lawsuit and other litigation that Maxwell recruited her in 2000 to be Epstein’s sex servant. She said the couple then forced her to have sex with many wealthy and notable men, including British Prince Andrew, American politicians, wealthy entrepreneurs, a famous scientist and fashion designer.

Maxwell and all of the accused men have denied these allegations for years.

Among the newly released documents were emails exchanged by Maxwell and Epstein in January 2015, when Giuffre’s allegations attracted new media attention.

An email, sent from Epstein’s email address but written in Maxwell’s voice, appeared to be a draft statement or set of talking points that Maxwell was using to defend himself. She said she had been the target of “false allegations of inappropriate and offensive behavior which I hate and never participated in.”

Responding to an email from Maxwell a few days later, Epstein wrote: You haven’t done anything wrong and I urge you to start acting like this. He suggested he go out and hold his head up, not as a convict (on the run).

Epstein committed suicide last summer while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. Maxwell was recently arrested for recruiting at least three girls, including one barely 14, for Epstein to be sexually assaulted in the 1990s. Prosecutors said she also joined in the abuse.

Maxwell is jailed pending trial in New York.

Many documents unsealed by the court Thursday had already been made public.

They included a deposition in which Giuffre described the alleged abuse, and also answered questions about mistakes she had previously made in telling her story, including telling a court that she was 15 when she met Epstein , when records showed she was at least a year old. older.

Over the years, Giuffre has told her story to the FBI, but no charges have been laid based on her allegations and she is not one of three alleged victims in the ongoing criminal case against Maxwell.

Two documents that were not released as scheduled on Thursday were depositions made by Maxwell in connection with the civil lawsuit in 2016.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska ordered their release, but Maxwell’s lawyers appealed her decision to the U.S. Circuit Second Court of Appeals.

Her lawyers have said they should be stranded as she now faces criminal charges.

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Associate Press Editors Michael R. Sisak and Jim Mustian contributed to this report.