The New York judge assigned to a lawsuit alleging Prince Andrew sexually abused an American when she was 17 says a 2008 legal agreement that his lawyer says would protect him against the claims can remain secret.

A U.S. judge says Prince Andrew can request the unsealing of a 2009 settlement agreement that a lawyer claims protects him from a lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted a girl two decades ago.

Maxwell, criminally charged with aiding Jeffrey Epstein in his sexual abuse of teenage girls, testified in 2016 that she had no memory of anything amiss on his properties in the 2000s despite the accusations from dozens of women and girls that they were sexually abused by Epstein. Ghislaine Maxwell, 59, said during a July 2016 deposition for a defamation lawsuit that she learned about abuse claims “like everybody else, like the rest of the world, when it was announced in the papers." The transcript of a deposition of Maxwell that took place earlier in 2016 was released in October. “Did anyone ever complain to you that Mr. Epstein had demanded sex of them?” attorney David Boies asked. Maxwell has been held without bail since pleading not guilty in July to recruiting girls for Epstein to abuse in the mid-1990s.

Maxwell has been charged with recruiting three underage girls in the 1990s for Epstein to sexually abuse and committing perjury in the depositions, though the charges don't relate to the prince. Giuffre has accused Epstein of arranging for her to have sexual encounters with numerous wealthy and influential men, including Prince Andrew. “Fifth,” he replied when he was asked if Maxwell was “one of the main women” he used to procure underage girls for sexual activities. Preska had ordered the transcripts of seven hours of depositions of Maxwell released by 9 a.m. Thursday. She said Maxwell recruited her at age 17 to be sexually abused by Epstein and Maxwell from 1999 to 2002.

NEW YORK – Transcripts of interviews lawyers conducted with the ex-girlfriend of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein must be released by Thursday morning, a judge said Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska's order allows the public release of transcripts of two days of depositions in 2016 of British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and related documents, along with the deposition transcript of an anonymous accuser. The judge briefly permitted the immediate release of the transcripts but reversed herself after an attorney for Maxwell made a late plea to delay the release. The lawyer cited objections to some redactions and said Maxwell had not had decided whether to further appeal an appellate ruling. Preska gave lawyers on each side until 9 a.m. Thursday to confer and release the transcripts.

Prosecutors had asked Nathan to block Maxwell's lawyers from publicly identifying the women unless they identified themselves as participants in the criminal case. Nathan's order came hours after newly unsealed court documents provided a fresh glimpse into a fierce civil court fight between Maxwell, who was Epstein's former girlfriend, and one of the women who accused the couple of sexual abuse. The documents released late Thursday were from a now-settled defamation lawsuit filed by one of Epstein's alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Among the newly released documents were emails Maxwell and Epstein exchanged in January 2015, when Giuffre's allegations were getting a new round of media attention. Her lawyers said they should be blocked because she now faces criminal charges.