Current:Home > MarketsUnsealing of documents related to decades of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls concludes -Wealth Pursuit Network
Unsealing of documents related to decades of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls concludes
View
Date:2025-04-18 00:24:48
NEW YORK (AP) — A final round of legal documents released Tuesday in a court case related to Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of teenage girls was made up of testimony transcripts that were already largely public and dealt with allegations about misconduct by several rich and influential men whose names have been known for a decade or more.
The unsealed files included a 2016 deposition of Virginia Giuffre, a woman who said Epstein sexually abused her and arranged for her to have sexual encounters with men including Britain’s Prince Andrew starting when she was 17.
It also included a transcript of testimony by Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former girlfriend, who insisted that Giuffre was a liar. There was also a deposition from Epstein himself, who refused to answer questions citing his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.
Those depositions had already been made public, though with some sentences or names blacked out.
Overall, the documents released since last week have added few details to what was already known about Epstein’s crimes. They did not contain the explosive revelations or new identities of abusers that some had predicted.
Epstein, a millionaire money manager, surrounded himself with celebrities, leading academics and big names from the fashion and political worlds before he was arrested in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2006 and accused of paying underage girls for sex.
He served 13 months in a jail work release program. Outrage over his plea bargain, sparked by reporting in the Miami Herald, led federal prosecutors in New York to bring new sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, and he killed himself in a federal jail cell while awaiting trial.
Prosecutors also brought charges against Maxwell, who is now serving a 20-year prison term for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.
Dozens of women say Epstein sexually abused them at his homes in New York, Florida, the Virgin Islands and New Mexico.
The documents released this month relate to a 2015 defamation lawsuit that Giuffre filed against Maxwell and was settled in 2017. Most of the court file has been public for years, but public interest in the documents soared after a judge ordered that some sealed sections be fully released.
Much of the lawsuit revolved around the truthfulness of Giuffre’s claims that Epstein had flown her around the world for sexual encounters with billionaires, politicians, royals and heads of state.
She initially kept the names of those men secret, but in a 2014 legal filing, she said her abusers included Prince Andrew, other royal figures whose names she didn’t know, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the head of a hotel chain, noted academics, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, French modeling scout Jean Luc Brunel, billionaire Glenn Dubin and law professor Alan Dershowitz, who had represented Epstein.
All of the men named by Giuffre denied her allegations.
Giuffre withdrew her claims about Dershowitz in 2022, saying she “may have made a mistake” in identifying him as an abuser. She said she “was very young at the time” and “it was a very stressful and traumatic environment.” Dershowitz campaigned to get documents related to Giuffre’s lawsuit unsealed, arguing that they would make his innocence more clear.
Giuffre settled a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in 2022.
Brunel, who was close to Epstein, killed himself in a Paris jail in 2022 while awaiting trial on charges that he raped underage girls.
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been the victims of sexual abuse unless they go public with their stories, as Giuffre has.
veryGood! (3835)
Related
- 'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
- 8 U.S. Marines in Australian hospital after Osprey crash that killed 3
- Miley Cyrus says she and dad Billy Ray Cyrus have 'wildly different' relationships to fame
- Elton John is 'in good health' after being hospitalized for fall at home
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Not just messing with a robot: Georgia school district brings AI into classrooms, starting in kindergarten
- No. 2 House Republican Steve Scalise is diagnosed with blood cancer and undergoing treatment
- Benches clear twice in an inning as Rays hand Yankees another series defeat
- US wholesale inflation accelerated in November in sign that some price pressures remain elevated
- Hannah Montana's Mitchel Musso Arrested for Public Intoxication
Ranking
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Boston Red Sox call up Ceddanne Rafaela, minor leaguer who set record for stolen bases
- Is palm oil bad for you? Here's why you're better off choosing olive oil.
- Simone Biles wins record 8th U.S. Gymnastics title
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- Olivia Culpo Shares Update on Sister Sophia Culpo After Breakup Drama
- Russia says Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin's death confirmed in plane crash after genetic testing
- She paid her husband's hospital bill. A year after his death, they wanted more money
Recommendation
DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
Killer identified in Massachusetts Lady of the Dunes cold case
Taylor Swift Jokes About Kanye West Interruption During Eras Tour
Man attacked by shark at popular Australian surf spot, rushed to hospital
Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
After Supreme Court curtails federal power, Biden administration weakens water protections
Kick Off Football Season With Team Pride Jewelry From $10
Trump trial set for March 4, 2024, in federal case charging him with plotting to overturn election