Britain’s Prince Andrew was sued in a New York court on Monday by a lady that he sexually maltreated and battered her twenty years ago when she was 17 years of age.
Virginia Giuffre, who says she was trafficked for sex by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, documented a civil complaint against Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
A representative for Andrew, Duke of York, declined to remark.
“Prince Andrew constrained Plaintiff, a kid, to have sex with Prince Andrew without her consent,” as indicated by the complaint of Giuffre, who was formerly known as Virginia Roberts.
The prince said in a 2019 discussion with the BBC that he had no memory of meeting Giuffre, and denied her claim of sexual maltreatment.
Andrew, 61, is possibly the most prominent individual connected to Epstein, who Manhattan federal prosecutors accused in July 2019 of sexually exploiting many young girls and ladies.
Epstein, a registered sex offender, committed suicide at 66 years old in a Manhattan prison on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial. Prosecutors later said Andrew had not cooperated with their investigation.
“I’m holding Prince Andrew responsible for how he dealt with me,” Giuffre said in an explanation. “The incredible and rich are not excluded from being made answerable for their activities.”
“I trust that different casualties will see that it is conceivable not to live in silence and dread, but rather to recover one’s life by standing up and demanding equity,” she said.
Representatives for Andrew’s legal counselors couldn’t be reached for remarks.
Dangers Claimed
Giuffre has said she was a survivor of Epstein’s sex dealing and maltreatment from 2000 to 2002, beginning when she was 16.
In her complaints, Giuffre said Andrew constrained her to have undesirable sex at the London home of Epstein’s long-lasting partner Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite.
Giuffre said Andrew additionally mishandled her at Epstein’s manor on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and on a private island that Epstein claimed in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The complaint said Giuffre “was constrained by express or suggested dangers” by Epstein, Maxwell, or Andrew to participate in sexual acts with Andrew, dreading repercussions for noncompliance.
“Andrew’s riches, influence, position, and associations empowered him to mishandle a terrified, weak youngster with nobody there to secure her,” the objection said.
Giuffre has said Epstein carried her to London to meet Andrew and kept her as a “sex slave” with assistance from Maxwell, the daughter of late British media mogul Robert Maxwell.
Endorsed by Giuffre’s legal advisor David Boies, the complaint blamed Andrew for battery and deliberate infliction of emotional distress. It seeks vague compensatory and punitive damages.
Legal advisors for Ghislaine Maxwell, who isn’t a litigant in the suit, didn’t promptly react to demands for input.
ANDREW DENIED Claimed Abuse
Andrew told the BBC in November 2019 that he was unable to have had intercourse with Giuffre at Maxwell’s home since he had returned that evening to his home after a children’s party.
“I can totally, completely disclose to you it never occurred,” Andrew said. “I have no memory of truly meeting this woman, none at all.”
Andrew called Epstein’s conduct “improper,” however said he didn’t lament their companionship.
After the interview, Andrew stepped down from royal duties, as charities and other associations distanced themselves from him.
Monday’s objection included a photograph of Giuffre and Andrew, both grinning, remaining close to one another, with Giuffre wearing a pink tank top.
Giuffre said the photograph was taken at Maxwell’s home before Andrew’s supposed sexual maltreatment. Andrew said he had no memory of the photo being taken. He proposed the photo might have been altered in some way or another.
Maxwell recently settled a different civil defamation suit by Giuffre.
She has independently argued not liable to participating in sex trafficking and prepping underage ladies for Epstein to abuse. Her trial in Manhattan could start in November.
Giuffre sued Andrew under the Child Victims Act, a New York state law permitting numerous child abuse casualties to seek after claims against their supposed victimizers, regardless of whether the maltreatment happened many years ago.
A window to bring many such cases terminates this week.
Earlier on Monday, the administrator of a fund to repay Epstein’s casualties said she has completed the payout cycle, giving more than $121 million to around 138 individuals.
