(CNN) A garden-variety court filing has mistakenly revealed US government efforts to criminally charge Julian Assange in an embarrassing episode for federal prosecutors in their nearly decade-long battle with the WikiLeaks founder.

In a court filing unsealed last week, prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia included two explicit references to charges against Assange while asking a judge to keep a case about coercion and enticement of a minor under wraps.

"Another procedure short of sealing will not adequately protect the needs of law enforcement at this time because, due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged," prosecutors wrote in the August 22 filing that was later unsealed on November 8, sitting undetected for days on the public docket.

"The complaint, supporting affidavit, and arrest warrant, as well as this motion and the proposed order, would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter," prosecutors added in the filing.

Federal prosecutors regularly reuse motions as templates for court filings, but the inclusion of such a high-profile name in a sealed criminal case, in this instance, amounted to a significant blunder.

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