(CNN) A federal judge has denied Ghislaine Maxwell's request to be moved to the general prison population, saying changes to her confinement are unnecessary at this time. Lawyers for Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend , who faces charges of recruiting, grooming and abusing minor girls as young as 14 years old, asked the judge to transfer her out of a high-security cell in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, to allow her to better prepare her defense. In denying the request, US District Court Judge Alison Nathan noted that the Bureau of Prisons has allowed Maxwell access to materials 13 hours a day, seven days a week. "Should facts on the ground change such that the Defendant is not being provided sufficient access to her legal materials, defense counsel may seek intervention by the Court," the judge wrote. The judge also rejected Maxwell's earlier request to modify prison surveillance, which she claimed involved being secretly watched by prison psychologists for several hours every day.

Source: CNN August 25, 2020 18:11 UTC