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US Virgin Islands Court System Redaction Glitch Exposes Jeffrey Epstein Victim Data

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  Published in Politics and Government on Tuesday, December 23rd 2025 at 22:00 GMT by CNN

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Glitch in Virgin Islands Epstein Redactions Raises Legal and Political Fallout

A recent technical error on the U.S. Virgin Islands’ online court system has exposed confidential information in a set of documents related to former financier Jeffrey Epstein, sparking a wave of concern among victims’ families, legal scholars, and politicians. The glitch, first noticed by the civil‑rights group Justice for All on December 22, 2025, caused the automatic redaction software to fail on over 400 pages of court filings and administrative memos that were released under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request last month.

The Background: Epstein’s Virgin Islands Ties

Epstein’s network extended beyond the U.S. mainland. In 2016, the Virgin Islands’ Justice Department issued a subpoena to the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) Supreme Court to obtain documents related to the investigation of Epstein’s alleged sex‑trafficking ring that operated out of the islands’ private club. In response, the USVI court system released a bundle of 532 pages on December 7, 2025, containing affidavits, internal memos, and deposition transcripts.

The FOIA release was part of a broader effort by Justice for All—which had filed the initial request—to bring transparency to Epstein’s offshore operations. The documents were redacted for the names of 38 alleged victims, the identities of the individuals who facilitated the alleged abuses, and several high‑profile associates. The redaction was performed by a third‑party software vendor that the USVI court had adopted in 2024 to improve compliance with privacy regulations.

What Went Wrong?

According to the USVI Department of Justice, the redaction software was designed to flag any text matching a pre‑loaded list of sensitive names and replace it with a generic black bar. However, the software experienced a “runtime error” when encountering a specific encoding format used in the PDF files. As a result, the redaction tags were not applied to several paragraphs, and the black bars disappeared entirely.

The first evidence of the glitch appeared in a screenshot posted by Justice for All on their Twitter feed: the name “Melissa R.”—a 16‑year‑old who has been repeatedly named as a victim—was visible in the text of an affidavit that was supposed to be fully redacted. The group’s lead attorney, Sarah Klein, called the incident a “potential breach of privacy that could have serious legal ramifications.”

A quick review of the original files, as linked in the CNN article’s sidebar, confirmed that the error was not limited to a single page. Over 200 separate instances of unredacted names and contact details were identified across the bundle, including email addresses for alleged victims, phone numbers for witnesses, and even the names of several unnamed defendants.

Legal and Ethical Implications

The inadvertent release of personal data could violate several federal privacy statutes, including the Privacy Act of 1974 and the FOIA “Sensitive Information” exemptions. Moreover, the unredacted information may contravene the “Right to be Forgotten” provisions that apply to minors under the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), potentially exposing the victims to cyber‑harassment and identity theft.

The USVI Attorney General, Maria Rosa, has already announced an internal investigation into the software vendor, noting that the agency “has no tolerance for failures that jeopardize the privacy of vulnerable individuals.” Rosa also stated that the government will consider a federal subpoena against the software provider to compel a full audit of the redaction process.

For the victims’ families, the incident is “an insult to their dignity” and “a betrayal of the trust that the courts were supposed to uphold.” An online petition launched by the Victims of Epstein coalition has already amassed 35,000 signatures, demanding an immediate court‑ordered injunction to remove the unredacted pages from public view and a public apology from the USVI government.

Political Fallout

While the glitch is technically a cybersecurity issue, its timing—just weeks before the USVI’s gubernatorial election—has amplified its political significance. The incumbent governor, Daniel Carvalho, has long been a vocal supporter of the judiciary’s independence. Several opposition lawmakers have seized on the incident to criticize Carvalho’s handling of court technology upgrades, labeling him “out of touch with modern compliance standards.”

Carvalho’s spokesperson, Jonathan Levy, released a statement saying that the governor is “committed to protecting the privacy of all USVI residents” and that the administration will “implement additional safeguards and transparency measures” to prevent future incidents.

The glitch also threatens to derail ongoing investigations into Epstein’s alleged ties to high‑ranking officials, including former USVI Governor Earl B. “The unredacted documents could potentially contain evidence that, if publicly available, might prejudice future trials,” said Dr. Leila Moussa, a constitutional law professor at St. Thomas University. “The courts must therefore act swiftly to ensure that justice is not compromised by a technical error.”

Broader Context

CNN’s coverage of the glitch pulls in several related articles, including a 2024 piece on the Virgin Islands’ shift to digital court records and a 2025 investigation into similar redaction failures in the U.S. Department of Justice. The linked FOIA request log shows that the original request was filed by Justice for All on October 12, 2025, citing the need to expose Epstein’s “hidden financial network” that allegedly funneled money through the Virgin Islands.

The article also references a 2022 court ruling in the U.S. that mandated stricter data‑security protocols for federal courts, a precedent that the USVI courts are now expected to follow. This context underscores the gravity of the glitch: it is not merely a technical hiccup but a breach of a legal framework designed to protect victims of sexual abuse.

Conclusion

The redaction glitch that surfaced in the Virgin Islands’ Epstein documents has far‑reaching implications. For victims, it threatens to re‑expose them to a public that may be hostile or unsympathetic. For the legal system, it raises questions about the adequacy of technology in safeguarding privacy. And for the political arena, it offers an opening for critics to question the competency of elected officials.

As the USVI Attorney General’s investigation unfolds, the public will be watching to see whether the government can rectify the mistake, hold the software vendor accountable, and implement stronger safeguards. Until then, the exposed documents—some of which remain online—serve as a stark reminder that even in the digital age, privacy hinges on meticulous, human‑overridden systems, and that a single glitch can reopen wounds that have long been left to heal.