Current:Home > MarketsUnsealing of documents related to decades of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls concludes-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Unsealing of documents related to decades of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls concludes
View Date:2024-12-23 22:55:53
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! (7921)
Related
- Stop What You're Doing—Moo Deng Just Dropped Her First Single
- Dave Grohl's Daughter Violet Joins Dad Onstage at Foo Fighters' Show at Glastonbury Festival
- Death Valley, hottest place on Earth, hits near-record high as blistering heat wave continues
- Kiss Dry, Chapped Lips Goodbye With This Hydrating Lip Mask That Serayah Swears By
- Jury awards Abu Ghraib detainees $42 million, holds contractor responsible
- SEC Proposes Landmark Rule Requiring Companies to Tell Investors of Risks Posed by Climate Change
- North Carolina’s New Farm Bill Speeds the Way for Smithfield’s Massive Biogas Plan for Hog Farms
- If you're getting financial advice from TikTok influencers don't stop there
- Former NFL coach Jack Del Rio charged with operating vehicle while intoxicated
- Inside Clean Energy: Arizona’s Net-Zero Plan Unites Democrats and Republicans
Ranking
- Tropical Storm Sara threatens to bring flash floods and mudslides to Central America
- And Just Like That's Costume Designers Share the Only Style Rule they Follow
- Wayfair Clearance Sale: Save Up to 70% Off Furniture, Appliances, and More With Deals Starting at $8
- Listener Questions: baby booms, sewing patterns and rural inflation
- Brands Our Editors Are Thankful For in 2024
- 12-year-old girl charged in acid attack against 11-year-old at Detroit park
- Medical debt affects millions, and advocates push IRS, consumer agency for relief
- US Taxpayers Are Spending Billions on Crop Insurance Premiums to Prop Up Farmers on Frequently Flooded, Unproductive Land
Recommendation
-
Catholic bishops urged to boldly share church teachings — even unpopular ones
-
Nursing student found after vanishing following 911 call about child on side of Alabama freeway
-
Cardi B Is an Emotional Proud Mommy as Her and Offset's Daughter Kulture Graduates Pre-K
-
Nordstrom says it will close its Canadian stores and cut 2,500 jobs
-
Powerball winning numbers for November 11 drawing: Jackpot hits $103 million
-
China is restructuring key government agencies to outcompete rivals in tech
-
Killings of Environmental Advocates Around the World Hit a Record High in 2020
-
The value of good teeth