Judge orders for documents that name Jeffrey Epstein's associates to be unsealed

A federal judge has ordered for documents that name associates of Jeffrey Epstein to be unsealed.

The ruling is part of a civil lawsuit settled in 2017 where Ghislaine Maxwell was accused of facilitating the sexual abuse between Epstein and Virginia Giuffre.

The terms of the settlement weren't revealed when it was finalized.

There have been several instances in the past where documents connected to the lawsuit have been unsealed.

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Back in 2019, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit opened up loads of pages on the day before Epstein killed himself in prison.

New York-based Judge Loretta A. Preska has since taken over the handling of these documents and ordered for more to be unsealed in 2020.

However, she has now set a date for 1 January 2024 for dozens more pages to be released to the public.

This will give Jane and John Does two weeks to file an appeal to keep their names private.

ABC News says more than 150 people associated to Epstein and Giuffre are expected to be exposed.

The outlet adds that many of these names could be Epstein's sex victims or women and girls who were trafficked during his crime spree.

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Some of the victims will remain unnamed due to the serious nature of the crimes committed against them, according to CNN, and some are due to them being minors at the time of the offences.

Epstein was arrested in 2019 and placed into the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City while he was awaiting trial.

He was charged with numerous offences, including federal charges of sex trafficking minors.

Epstein was found dead in his cell, having died by suicide by hanging, according to the city’s medical examiner.

There were loads of conspiracy theories around Epstein’s death in the immediate aftermath, given his reputation as well as his contacts within the political world and beyond.

He was also the owner of an island that generated a load of conspiracy theories and controversy.

A report from the US Justice Department watchdog ruled the Bureau of Prisons’ multiple failings were problematic because they failed to safeguard Epstein, as well as the fact they ‘led to numerous questions about the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death’.

The office also noted that Epstein’s death and the lack of a criminal trial denied justice to his victims.