(CNN) Jeffery Epstein's former girlfriend and alleged accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, has lost a court battle to keep a 2016 deposition sealed. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Monday denied the effort of Maxwell's attorneys to reverse the decision of a lower court that ordered the transcript to be made public. "(T)he District Court correctly held that the deposition materials are judicial documents to which the presumption of public access attaches and did not abuse its discretion in rejecting Maxwell's meritless arguments that her interests superseded the presumption of access," the appellate court panel wrote. Maxwell, 58, was charged by federal prosecutors in early July for allegedly helping recruit, groom and ultimately sexually abuse minors as young as 14 as part of a years-long criminal enterprise with Jeffrey Epstein. The deposition Maxwell's legal team is fighting to keep sealed is connected to a 2015 defamation case brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre , who claimed Epstein sexually abused her while she was a minor and that Maxwell aided in the abuse.

Source: CNN October 19, 2020 20:37 UTC