Richard Berman, a federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, is pressing the Justice Department regarding how the department plans to protect the identities of the Jeffrey Epstein Victims that appeared in the uncensored documents after several lawyers representing the victims approached him regarding the situation. The lawyers have described the response amongst the victims as “widespread panic”.
According to the lawyers, dozens of victims had their names exposed when the Justice Department released the most recent batch of Epstein documents and emails to the public. While receiving uncensored information from the government was a major relief for Americans, as they could finally get real evidence of exactly what Epstein did, it was a disaster for victims who wished to remain out of the public eye.
The lawyers provided the following statement: “Transparency CANNOT come at the expense of the privacy, safety, and protection of sexual abuse and sex trafficking victims, especially these survivors who have already suffered repeatedly,”
Already, several victims have reported that they were approached in the streets by reporters and investigators, sometimes while they had their children beside them. Many victims who were promised protection from the government feel like this decision was a massive betrayal that disregarded their desire to remain anonymous.
One victim wrote the following statement that appeared in a court document: “This type of negligence by the government to a survivor is just unable to comprehend,” they continue, “I don’t understand how this is possible.”
Another victim also wrote the following: “I thought the government had promised to redact our names and identifying material. I don’t understand how this is happening again.”
After this betrayal, Judge Richard Berman is seeking to ensure that future documentation released does not contain any names of victims.
