More than 170 associates of Jeffrey Epstein will be named next month

Jeffrey Epstein was accused of sex trafficking and rape. Photo: AP

More than 170 associates of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein are set to be publicly named next month following a New York court ruling.

Judge Loretta Preska's order is part of a libel case involving Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and convicted human trafficker.

Those whose names must be released include victims of sexual abuse, trial witnesses and Epstein employees.

Prince Andrew is expected to be among them if evidence from a woman alleging he engaged in sexual behavior is made public. attacked her in 2001.

Anyone on the list will have until Jan. 1 to appeal to have their name removed from the list.

Ties 'fully exposed'

For several years, Judge Preska was reviewing documents requested by the Miami Herald in a civil case involving Maxwell and Ms. Giuffre.

The case was settled in 2017, and many records related to the suit were publicly released. in the last few years.

However, the names of dozens of Epstein's associates remained sealed by the court.

Judge Preska ruled Monday on parts of the records that were initially withheld for privacy reasons and what could be released about certain people mentioned .

In many cases, she noted that individuals had provided media interviews or that their names had previously appeared publicly in various ways, including at Maxwell's trial two years ago.

In Judge Preska's 51-page order, Monday's ruling called for «full disclosure of Epstein's connections.» .

Parts of the recording must remain confidential

The recordings include 40 documents containing evidence from Joanna Sjoberg, who alleged that Prince Andrew groped her breasts while sitting on a sofa in Epstein's Manhattan apartment in 2001.

< p>Buckingham Palace previously denied the allegations, saying they were false. «categorically false.»

Judge Preska concluded that some parts of the records should remain confidential, including those that identify people who were children when they were sexually abused by Epstein and tried to keep his privacy.

Epstein committed suicide in a New York jail in August 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking and raping young girls.

He was accused of that he lured numerous underage girls to his home under the guise of her giving him massages and then sexually assaulting him.

Maxwell, 61, is serving a 20-year prison sentence after she was convicted in December 2021 of helping Epstein recruit and sexually abuse underage girls.< /p>

The pair were a couple in the early 1990s and then became accomplices and accomplices in a sex crime spree that spanned nearly three decades .