Ghislaine Maxwell’s safety has been cited as the reason behind her ‘uniquely onerous’ isolation from other inmates at the Brooklyn jail where she is being held on charges she facilitated late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of underage girls.

In an August 10 letter, Ms Maxwell’s lawyers objected to her being subjected to round-the-clock surveillance and numerous body scans at the Metropolitan Detention Centre despite no longer being on suicide watch, and said she belongs in the general population rather than in her cell 21 hours a day.

But in a letter on Thursday (local time) to US District Judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan, prosecutors defended the arrangement and say it is “at best premature” to require they identify three alleged victims named in Ms Maxwell’s indictment.

Ms Maxwell, 58, has pleaded not guilty to helping Epstein recruit and eventually abuse three girls from 1994 to 1997, and committing perjury by denying her involvement under oath.

Prosecutors said Ms Maxwell was isolated for reasons of “safety, security, and the orderly functioning of the facility” and it was appropriate to closely monitor new inmates facing a “strong likelihood” of many years in prison.

They nonetheless said jail officials agreed to give Ms Maxwell 13 hours a day to review materials for her scheduled July 2021 trial, rather than the normal three hours.

Prosecutors also said they have acted “expeditiously” in turning over materials, and Ms Maxwell can request victims’ names and make other motions in December after discovery is finished.

Epstein was found hanged at age 66 last August in a Manhattan jail, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

His sudden death, coupled with his connections to powerful people spawned conspiracy theories about whether he actually died by suicide.

Lawyers for Ms Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

-with agencies