A woman connected to Jeffrey Epstein has claimed she faces “risks of physical harm” if she is identified, as 170 associates of the late sex trafficker are due to be named in the new year.
The woman told New York Judge Loretta Preska that she lives in a “culturally conservative country” outside the US and fears that being identified would lead to threats on her life, according to court records.
The woman, identified in court documents as Doe 107, was asked by Judge Preska in October to provide an affidavit backing up her claims that her life was at risk and to provide any hate mail she had received.
This week, her lawyer Richard Levitt asked the judge for an extra 30 days to provide the evidence requested, and sought clarification on what records related to his client would be released as part of the upcoming release of information.
The identities of scores of individuals due for release are contained in a defamation lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre against convicted child trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
Jeffrey Epstein appears in court, July 30, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida— (AP)
Ms Giuffre filed the defamation case in 2015 after Maxwell called her a liar over her claims that she had been sexually abused as a minor.
The Miami Herald, whose investigation into Epstein led to his arrest in 2019, then sued for the release of all documents related to the lawsuit.
On Monday, Judge Preska issued a 51-page ruling ordering the names of Epstein’s associates to be “unsealed in full”.
The federal judge also ordered that several of Epstein victims named in the documents should remain anonymous, as releasing their identities would “disclose sensitive information regarding an alleged minor victim of sexual abuse who has not spoken publicly”.
Virginia Giuffre has welcomed the release of more than 170 names linked to Epstein— (PA Media)
Judge Preska gave the John and Jane Does 14 days to respond before materials connected to the now-settled civil case are released in the new year.
Ms Giuffre welcomed the released, writing on X: “There’s going to be a lot of nervous people over Christmas and New Years, 170 to be exact, who’s on the naughty list?”
The defamation case was settled in 2017 and placed under a protective seal. It formed part of a criminal investigation that led to Maxwell being convicted of child sex trafficking in December 2021 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Maxwell’s attorneys had fought for the names to remain private, before lifting their objection in early 2022.
The batch of documents will shed more light on Epstein’s decades-long sex trafficking and abuse network, and is likely to include emails, depositions and other legal documents.
Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges in 2019. Since then, his estate has been embroiled in lawsuits with JP Morgan, the US Virgin Islands and dozens of victims.
