Documents from lawsuit connected to Jeffrey Epstein unsealed

Hundreds of pages of documents that are part of a lawsuit connected to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein have started being released. CBC News is currently reviewing the newly unsealed documents . Those named in the documents are not necessarily accused of any wrongdoing; some of the people named are those making allegations or are potential witnesses.

Epstein, a disgraced financier, died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. The documents were originally filed in court as part of a lawsuit against Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of sex trafficking for recruiting women and young girls to the operation.

One of the most prominent victims, Virginia Giuffre, first sued Maxwell in 2015 for recruiting her to be abused when she was underage. Maxwell, now 62, is serving a 20 year prison sentence in Florida for her crimes. Epstein, left, and Ghislaine Maxwell are pictured in New York in 2005. (Patrick McMullan/Getty Images) A judge in New York ruled last month that the documents could be unsealed, paving the way for the names to be released on Wednesday.

In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska noted that many of the individuals named in the lawsuit have already been publicly identified in newspaper articles, documentaries, books or through Maxwell's criminal trial in 2021. Preska said some names will remain under seal, including those of child victims..