Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FBI CHARGES PRINCE’S PAL WITH GROOMING YOUNG GIRLS
Agents swoop on Epstein’s ‘fixer’... prosecutors urge Andrew to talk to them
PRINCE Andrew last night came under mounting pressure after Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with grooming girls for sex.
The socialite was arrested in the US over claims she provided paedophile Jeffrey Epstein with young girls.
A prosecutor said: “We would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk to us. Our doors remain open.”
A CHIEF US prosecutor last night again urged Prince Andrew to speak to the FBI after Ghislaine Maxwell was yesterday charged with grooming young girls for paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The royal came under further pressure to reveal what he knows about the late tycoon’s sordid lifestyle. Hours after agents swooped on British socialite Maxwell, 58, acting US attorney Audrey Strauss reiterated her call to the Prince.
She said: “We would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk to us, we would like to have the benefit of his statement.
“Our doors remain open, and we would like to hear from him.”
Gloria Allred, who represents several victims of Epstein, also called on the prince to speak to the FBI. She said: “The arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell is a major development and demonstrates that the criminal investigation is serious and that it continues.
“It is long overdue for Prince Andrew to stop making excuses and to stop playing the victim.
“He should contact the FBI immediately and agree to appear for an interview.”
Maxwell was arrested in her remote £860,000 bolthole in Bradford, New Hampshire.
Her indictment alleges:
She groomed three unnamed girls, all under the age of 18, in London, New York and Florida, and New Mexico between 1994 and 1997.
She took part in the sexual abuse.
Maxwell encouraged them to travel to meet Epstein and engage in sex acts with him.
She lied in 2016 depositions while being sued by Virginia Giuffre Roberts that she had never groomed or had sex with underage girls herself.
One of the three victims is British. FBI assistant director-in-charge Bill Sweeney described Maxwell as “one of the villains” among Epstein’s circle of sexual abuse.
He said: “We’ve been discreetly keeping tabs on Maxwell’s whereabouts as we work this investigation. More recently we learned she’d slithered away to a gorgeous property in New Hampshire, continuing to live a life of privilege while her victims live with the trauma inflicted upon them years ago.
“Ms Maxwell chose to blatantly disregard the law and her responsibilities, as an adult using whatever means she had at her disposal, to lure vulnerable youth into behaviour they should never have been exposed to, and which creates lasting harm.
“We allege that from at least 1994 through at least 1997, Ms Maxwell assisted Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of minor girls by helping to recruit, entice, groom and abuse children under the age of 18. She befriended the innocent, attempted to normalise sexual abuse and worked to put victims at ease, aware for the entire time of the abuse that would follow.”
Maxwell appeared by video link before Judge Andrea Johnstone, who formally read her charges. She was remanded to the custody of US Marshals, who will take her to New York. A bail hearing will take place there at a later date. Following Epstein’s suicide last August as he awaited trial for underage sex trafficking, the FBI placed his relationship with Maxwell at the heart of their investigation.
The daughter of disgraced media tycoon Robert will now be quizzed about her friendship with Epstein and her associates who include the Duke of York. She has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Dad-of-two Andrew and his lawyers have previously claimed he offered three times to be a witness in the FBI’S case, but US prosecutors insist he has declined their request for interview adding he has provided “zero co-operation”. The US Department of Justice has since formally asked the Home Office for help to question the Duke, which could end with him grilled in court. Andrew’s lawyers branded the move a cynical publicity stunt, accusing US officials of breaking their own rules and lying.
A source close to the Prince said: “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.”
Giuffre, 36, has claimed while Epstein’s “teenage sex slave” she was forced to sleep with