A New York judge has ordered a trove of documents related to the federal case against Ghislaine Maxwell to be unsealed, potentially affording a view into possible further accomplices connected Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking ring.
As the New York Post reports, Judge Loretta Preska ruled on Thursday that records that include email exchanges between Epstein and Maxwell, as well as a lengthy deposition Maxwell gave in response to a 2015 lawsuit brought by one of Epstein’s alleged victims, Virginia Giuffre.
As the report notes, Giuffre accused Maxwell of participating in the abuse, and allegedly forcing Giuffre to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was a teen. She sued Maxwell for defamation after the 58-year-old British socialite accused Giuffre of fabricating the allegations.
Epstein died in his Manhattan jail cell of an apparent suicide in August 2019, while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Earlier this month, Maxwell was arrested at a luxury hideaway in New Hampshire and is facing six federal counts accusing her or recruiting minor victims for Epstein to sexually abuse,
Judge Preska has given Maxwell’s attorney a week to appeal her ruling to unseal the documents.
“The court finds that any minor embarrassment or annoyance resulting from the disclosure of Miss Maxwell’s mostly non-testimony about behavior that has been widely reported in the press is far outweighed by the presumption of public access,” Preska said at the videoconference hearing, according to the New York Post.
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[Featured image: Ghislaine Maxwell/Corredor99/MediaPunch /IPX via AP]
[Feature image: Corredor99/MediaPunch /IPX via AP]
