‘Renewed trauma’: Epstein victims sue US government and Google over identity disclosure

Photo of the Jeffrey Epstein case that disappeared from the American government page with files on the investigation. Image includes a photo with Donald Trump @Oversight Dems/Reproduction Victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have filed a lawsuit against the United States government and Google following the disclosure of their identities in documents published online by the Department of Justice. In January, the United States Department of Justice released more than 3 million files linked to the investigation into the former financier, which detail his connections with various personalities. However, several names of victims, which should have remained confidential, were not properly hidden. “The Department of Justice revealed the identities of nearly 100 convicted sexual predator survivors by publishing their private and identifying information to the world,” the plaintiffs said. They also say that, even after the government recognized the error and removed part of the material, the data continues to circulate on the internet. “Sites like Google continue to publish the information on an ongoing basis, rejecting victims’ appeals for it to be taken down,” they added. According to court documents, Google continues to display victims’ personal information in search results and AI-generated content. Jeffrey Epstein appears next to an unidentified woman in an image released by the US Congressional Democratic Committee among the Epstein House Oversight Committee Democrats/Handout case files via Reuters A report from The New York Times identified, in the released files, dozens of images of nude people, including photos with the victims’ faces. Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting sexual favors from minors under the age of 14. He died in 2019 in a New York prison cell before his trial on sex trafficking charges. “Survivors now face renewed trauma. Strangers call, email, threaten their physical safety, and accuse them of conspiring with Epstein when, in reality, they are victims of Epstein,” the lawsuit states. Understand the relationship between the most powerful people in the world and businessman Jeffrey Epstein, accused of exploiting women and girls READ ALSO: How did Jeffrey Epstein become so rich? Jeffrey Epstein Had Two Main Aides—Why Do They Still Control His Money and Secrets? US Department of Justice says allegations against Trump were left out of Epstein files by mistake, says newspaper

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