Epstein’s Alleged Victim Virginia Giuffre Sues Prince Andrew, Claiming Sexual Assault
01:11 GMT 10.08.2021 (Updated: 04:55 GMT 10.08.2021)
© AP Photo / Bebeto Matthews
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In 2014, Virginia Roberts Giuffre filed a lawsuit in a Florida state court, claiming that the disgraced millionaire and convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, trafficked her to his friends for sex while she was a minor. As Giuffre later alleged, among her abusers was Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II.
One of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, has filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in a federal court in New York, Giuffre’s attorney, David Boies, said on Monday.
The 38-year-old Giuffre, who now lives in Australia with her husband and three children, testified that, against her will, she was forced to have sex with the British royal three times in 2001, while she was 17. Giuffre is demanding compensation from her alleged abuser for physical and mental damage.
“If she doesn’t do it now, she would be allowing him to escape any accountability for his actions,” Boies said, cited by ABC News. “Virginia is committed to trying to avoid situations where rich and powerful people escape any accountability for their actions.”
According to the lawsuit, Prince Andrew sought to “abuse a frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her. It is long past the time for him to be held to account.”
“I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me. The powerful and the 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 one can reclaim her life by speaking out and demanding justice,” Giuffre said in a statement.
Prince Andrew denied accusations that he had sex with Giuffre, claiming that the notorious photo showing the two together at the Ghislaine Maxwell residence where Giuffre was allegedly abused, is fake. In November 2019, Prince Andrew was forced to step down from his official duties amid scandalous revelations about his close association with Epstein.
Prince Andrew, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell. This photo was included in an affidavit in which Giuffre alleged that she was directed to have sex with Andrew
© Photo : Florida Southern District Court
Epstein, who was detained in New York State in July 2019 on charges of sex trafficking, sexual assault and the involvement of minors in prostitution, committed suicide in his prison cell on 10 August 2019, before his trial started.
