Admit it, Andrew
A WOMAN who alleges she was a victim of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and claimed she was forced into a sexual encounter with the Duke of York has urged the royal to “come clean”.
Virginia Giuffre was speaking to reporters after a hearing for alleged victims of the disgraced financier and said Prince Andrew “knows what he’s done”.
Since Epstein’s death, there have been a number of reports about his relationship with the duke, including that the pair travelled together on Epstein’s private jet with teenager Virginia Roberts, now known as Giuffre.
Giuffre has claimed in court papers in Florida that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was aged 17, under the state’s age of consent.
Her allegations, which Prince Andrew denies, were struck from US civil court records in 2015 after a judge said they were “immaterial and impertinent”.
Buckingham Palace has contested reports about Prince Andrew’s links to Epstein, including the private jet flights, over “a number of inconsistencies”.
On Tuesday, 16 women who claim they were victims of Epstein spoke at a hearing in New York after a judge offered the accusers the opportunity to give statements about the impact of the alleged offending.
“He knows exactly what he’s done and I hope he comes clean about it,” Giuffre said outside court.
Prince Andrew released a statement at the weekend expressing “tremendous sympathy” for Epstein’s alleged victims.
He issued a lengthy statement saying he wanted to “clarify the facts” around his relationship with Epstein. He also reiterated that it was a “mistake” seeing Epstein, 66, after the American’s release from an 18-month prison term in 2010 for prostituting minors.
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