Time to come clean, Andy
THE ALLEGATIONS
PRESSURE is building on Prince Andrew to talk to US prosecutors following the arrest of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged pimp.
Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell faces 35 years’ jail after being charged with six counts including procuring girls as young as 14 for disgraced financier Epstein, as well as perjury.
The charges were brought after Australian mother Virginia Roberts Giuffre accused Maxwell and Epstein of forcing her to have sex with the prince.
Audrey Strauss, Acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said on Friday that prosecutors wanted to talk to the Duke.
“I will say we would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk to us. We would like to have the benefit of his statement,” Ms Strauss said.
Celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, who is representing several of Epstein’s victims, also called on Prince Andrew to be interviewed by US authorities.
“It is long overdue for Prince Andrew to stop making excuses and to stop playing the victim,” she said. “He should contact the FBI immediately and agree to appear for an interview.”
The Duke has so far refused to give evidence about his relationship with Epstein despite the US Department of Justice formally requesting the British Home Office to question him about his ties.
His lawyers said yesterday he was “bewildered” by the claim he had not co-operated with the investigation.
“The Duke’s team remains bewildered given that we have twice communicated with the DOJ in the last month and to date we have had no response,” his lawyers said.
Andrew previously disclosed that he and Epstein became associates in 1999, after
Maxwell introduced them, and he has faced heated criticism for continuing the friendship until at least 2010 – after Epstein had served an 18-month jail term in Florida for soliciting prostitution with a minor.
The scandal has also drawn in the daughter of former Australian prime minister Paul Keating, Katherine, who was filmed farewelling Andrew at the front door of Epstein’s New York mansion when he was staying there in 2010.
There is no suggestion Ms Keating, who was reportedly friends with the Duke, knew of any alleged wrongdoing by Epstein, who took his own life last August in a federal jail in New York after being charged with a string of sex offences.
Maxwell, 58, was arrested at a rural New Hampshire retreat she purchased in December for $1.55 million through a shelf company.
FBI Assistant Director Bill Sweeney said the FBI had been “discretely keeping tabs” on Maxwell’s location as they built their case over the past year. Maxwell did not apply for bail after prosecutors argued to keep her in custody and said she had “no reason to stay in the United States” if freed.
A detention memo said she posed a flight risk because she had travelled at least 15 times internationally in the past three years and has 15 bank accounts with combined holdings of up to $29 million.
Ms Strauss described the charges as a “prequel” to the sex charges with which Epstein, then 66, was slapped last year.
“Maxwell lied because the truth, as alleged, was almost unspeakable. Maxwell enticed young girls, got them to trust her, then delivered them into a trap that Epstein had set for them,” she said.
The indictment charged her with six counts, including conspiracy to entice minors, transporting minors and perjury.
“Maxwell assisted, facilitated and contributed to Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by, among other things, helping Epstein to recruit, groom and ultimately abuse victims,” the FBI indictment says. “The victims were as young as 14.”
Her accusers include Ms Roberts Giuffre, who claimed she was forced by Epstein and Maxwell to have sex with Prince Andrew.
The woman, from Cairns, was 17 at the time and a photograph was taken of Prince Andrew with his arm around her bare midriff.
Maxwell and the prince have both denied the allegations. Epstein’s victims have repeatedly called for Maxwell, daughter of disgraced media mogul and fraudster Robert Maxwell, to face charges.
Her arrest comes just days before the anniversary of Epstein’s arrest on child sex trafficking charges last July.
Maxwell had been accused of working as a “pimp” to lure young women to Epstein’s homes in Miami, New York and an estate in the Virgin Islands. Ms Roberts Giuffre has detailed how she approached her when she was working at a Florida beach club in 2000 and offered her a job as a masseuse at Epstein’s Palm Beach home.
The charges allege Maxwell groomed young women from 1994 until at least 1997, and that she and Epstein knew they were underage.
“In some instances, Maxwell was present for and participated in the sexual abuse of minor victims,” the indictment says.
The-18 page document lays out how Maxwell and Epstein, who were in a relationship at the time, allegedly befriended the young women by “taking them to the movies and shopping” before “normalising” sexual behaviour.
“Maxwell’s presence during minor victims’ interactions with Epstein, including interactions where the minor victim was undressed or that involved sex acts with Epstein, helped put the victims at ease because an adult woman was present,” it states.
They would also allegedly coerce victims, many of whom have been described as vulnerable, by offering them gifts or financial assistance.
“Through this process, Maxwell and Epstein enticed victims to engage in sexual activity with Epstein.”
Maxwell is also accused of perjury for lying under oath in a 2016 deposition. “I wasn’t aware that he was having sexual activities with anyone,” she said.