Epstein accuser sues Prince Andrew
One of Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime accusers sued Prince Andrew on Monday, taking accusations that he sexually assaulted her when she was 17, to a formal venue.
Lawyers for Virginia Giuffre filed the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court, where Epstein was charged criminally with sex trafficking a month before he killed himself at age 66 in August 2019 in an adjacent federal jail, where he was ordered to await trial.
Giuffre has repeatedly made her allegations against Epstein, his one-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, and Prince Andrew, but the lawsuit was the first time she has directly confronted Andrew in such a formal setting. It steps up public relations pressure on the prince, even if he remains beyond the reach of the courts.
In a statement, Giuffre said she was “holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me”.
“The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions. 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,” Giuffre said.
In late 2019, Prince Andrew told BBC Newsnight that he never had sex with Giuffre and that he had “no recollection” of ever meeting her.