NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors are disputing claims by lawyers for a British socialite that they are slowly releasing evidence and improperly withholding the names of women abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The prosecutors in court papers Thursday defended their handling of the criminal case brought last month against Epstein’s ex-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to charges that she recruited and joined in the sexual abuse in the 1990s of three girls, one of whom was 14. Her lawyers said that they can’t properly investigate the charges against Maxwell because prosecutors won’t tell them the identities of the three accusers.
Prosecutors say they are protecting the identities of sexual assault victims and are under no legal obligation to identify them.