Prince Andrew is being sued for the alleged sexual assault of Virginia Giuffre, an accuser of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Prince Andrew, a longtime associate of pedophile US financier Jeffrey Epstein, is being sued for the alleged sexual abuse of Virginia Giuffre when she was 17.
The lawsuit comes after a fund set up to provide money to Epstein’s victims announced on Monday that it had largely completed its work after agreeing to deliver nearly $US125 million to more than 135 individuals.
Ms Giuffre alleges she: “was regularly abused by Epstein and was lent out by him to other powerful men for sexual purposes”.
“One such powerful man…was the Defendant, Prince Andrew,” the court papers say.
Ms Giuffre said in a statement that the lawsuit was brought under the Child Victims Act, to allege she was trafficked to him and sexually abused by him.
“I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me,” she said.
“The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions.”
According to the complaint, Ms Giuffre said Prince Andrew sexually abused her at the London home of Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell when she was under 18.
Prince Andrew has denied the allegations, saying “it didn’t happen“.
He said he had “no recollection” of ever meeting her and that there were “a number of things that are wrong” about Ms Giuffre’s account, which alleged the encounter occurred in 2001.
Prince Andrew: “I never met Virginia Roberts – this is me standing next to Pizza Express in Woking.” pic.twitter.com/bruXeJ45FK
— Will Black (@WillBlackWriter) August 9, 2021
Lawyers have said that Prince Andrew is likely to do anything he can to avoid giving evidence.
“He can ignore me and he can ignore Virginia… but he can’t ignore judicial process.”
Virginia Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies, says Prince Andrew and his lawyers have “simply ignored every letter, every phone call, every outreach that we’ve made”. pic.twitter.com/XLBApde3Y0
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) August 10, 2021
Prince Andrew, the Queen’s second son, stepped back from royal duties in 2019 over his friendship with Epstein, who took his own life in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019.
anyways, prepare yourself for a certain someone to be used as a scapegoat to cover up the news that virginia giuffre has now sued prince andrew.
dont lose sight
— we stand with you virginia 💯 pic.twitter.com/Zx6KefkIET— michelle (@ddarveyy) August 9, 2021
Epstein’s death came one month after being arrested on sex trafficking charges.
Giuffre also claims Andrew abused her at Epstein’s New York mansion and on Little St James, Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands.
“I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but to reclaim one’s life by speaking out and demanding justice,” said Ms Giuffre.
BREAKING: Prince Andrew understood to have died in a car crash next week x
— Laura Kuenssberg Translator (@BBCPropagandist) August 9, 2021
Haven’t seen @piersmorgan tweet about Prince Andrew yet… Must be difficult to find some way to blame Harry and Meghan for this one… pic.twitter.com/75kRYBADk6
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) August 9, 2021
