NEW YORK — Convicted sexual abuser and former British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell will stop fighting to keep the names of eight "John Does" a secret, multiple media outlets say.
CNN and Fox News report she will leave it up to a judge to decide whether to unseal the names – which come from a now-settled 2015 defamation case brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell's accusers.
"Each of the listed Does has counsel who have ably asserted their own respective privacy rights," CNN says Maxwell's lawyer, Laura Menninger, wrote to the judge. "Ms. Maxwell therefore leaves it to this Court to conduct the appropriate review."
The development comes just days after Giuffre's attorney asked the court to reveal the names.
"Now that Maxwell's criminal trial has come and gone, there is little reason to retain protection over the vast swaths of information about Epstein and Maxwell's sex-trafficking operation that were originally filed under seal in this case," Giuffre's lawyer, Sigrid McCawley, reportedly wrote.
According to Newsweek, the "John Does" were not parties to the lawsuit, and their attorneys had worked to keep their names hidden out of fear of embarrassment and media attention.
Back in December, Maxwell was found guilty on five of six federal charges, including sex trafficking of a minor. Prosecutors say she lured teenage girls to be sexually abused by her one-time boyfriend Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell while waiting for his trial back in 2019.
Witnesses in Maxwell's trial testified about how girls as young as 14 were sexually abused at Epstein's homes in Florida, New Mexico and New York.
According to Yahoo News, a new ITV documentary suggests Buckingham Palace staff suspected Maxwell and Prince Andrew may have had an "intimate relationship." Andrew was recently stripped of his military titles and royal patronages amid accusations that he sexually abused Giuffre when she was 17 – and that Giuffre was coerced into being there by Maxwell and Epstein.
Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day, could be sentenced on June 28, although that date is subject to change.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.