A federal appeals court has ordered the release of sealed court records pertaining to billionaire Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sex ring—spelling a victory for the victims, whose lawyers said the documents will prove Epstein trafficked underage girls to his famous friends.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled certain records in a defamation lawsuit filed by accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre against Epstein's alleged madam, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, should be made public record. 

In its opinion, the panel vacated a Manhattan federal judge's decision to keep the records secret and ordered the summary judgment record in the 2017 case to be unsealed—with minimal redactions—after it issues a mandate closing the case. The court also remanded the case to the district court for a review of the remaining sealed materials.