A Manhattan federal judge on Friday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell's request to name the women who have come forward in the media and on other platforms as victims of deceased financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan, came amid a battle between Maxwell's attorneys and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York over a protective order order governing discovery in the case, which accuses the former British socialite and Epstein's longtime confidante of enabling the millionaire's abuses.

Maxwell's defense team had sought to identify any victims who had publicly spoken about their encounters with Epstein and Maxwell in the media or in the context of civil litigation.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office, however, resisted that call as overly broad, and said that it threatened the "dignity and privacy" of Epstein's accusers, some of whom were as young as 14 years old when they first met the Manhattan- and South Florida-based financier. Instead, they argued, only victims who came forward to speak on the record in Maxwell's criminal case should be identified.

In a three-page ruling, Nathan sided with prosecutors in finding that Maxwell's proposal went too far seeking to out accusers across a variety of fora.

"Not all accusations or public statements are equal," she said, and the victims "still maintain a significant privacy interest that must be safeguarded."

"Deciding to participate in or contribute to a criminal investigation or prosecution is a far different matter than simply making a public statement 'relating to' Ms. Maxwell or Jeffrey Epstein, particularly since such a statement might have occurred decades ago and have no relevance to the charges in this case," Nathan wrote.

"The exception the defense seeks is too broad and risks undermining the protections of the privacy of witnesses and alleged victims that is required by law," she said.

So far, only one woman, Annie Farmer, has spoken out by name in Maxwell's case. Another unnamed woman submitted a written statement at Maxwell's bail hearing earlier this month, but under Nathan's order she would not be identified in the proceedings.

Maxwell, who pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transporting minors for illegal sex acts and perjury, was denied bail July 14 and is waiting out a planned July 2021 trial from a Brooklyn jail cell.

Epstein died in federal custody last summer while awaiting his own trial on sex trafficking charges. His death, which was ruled a suicide, ended the criminal case against him, but an investigation of Epstein's employees and associates remains ongoing in the Southern District.

For Maxwell, Nathan's ruling was the latest in a string of losses in both criminal and civil proceedings. Late Thursday, a trove of documents were made public, over her attorney's objections in civil litigation, which showed Maxwell's correspondences with Epstein as recently as 2015.

A federal judge in that case had slammed Maxwell's attempts to "muddy the waters" just before the documents were set to be made public.

On Friday, Nathan also rejected Maxwell's bid to prevent the government from disclosing discovery materials to potential witnesses in the case. In her ruling, Nathan noted that the request "appeared unprecedented despite the fact that there have been many high-profile criminal matters that had related civil litigation."

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