Britain’s Prince Andrew sued over alleged sexual abuse

NEW YORK: Britain’s Prince Andrew was sued for having allegedly on three occasions sexually abused a woman who says she was trafficked by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

In a civil complaint filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, Virginia Giuffre said the Duke of York, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, sexually assaulted and battered her about two decades ago, when she was 17 and Epstein was also abusing her.

“I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me,” Giuffre, previously known as Virginia Roberts, said in a statement. “The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions,” she added. “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.”

The prince said in a 2019 interview he had no recollection of meeting Giuffre, and categorically denied her claim of sexual abuse. Andrew, 61, is one of the most prominent people linked to Epstein, who Manhattan federal prosecutors charged in July 2019 with sexually exploiting dozens of girls and women.

Epstein, a registered sex offender, killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail on Aug. 10, 2019, while awaiting trial. Prosecutors later said Andrew had not cooperated with their probe.

Giuffre has said she was a victim of Epstein’s sex trafficking and abuse from 2000 to 2002, starting at age 16. In her complaint, Giuffre said Andrew forced her at the London home of Epstein’s longtime associate and socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.

Giuffre said Andrew also abused her at Epstein’s mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and on a private island that Epstein owned in the US Virgin Islands.

The complaint said Giuffre “was compelled by express or implied threats” by Epstein, Maxwell or Andrew to engage in sexual acts with Andrew, fearing repercussions for disobedience. “Andrew’s wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him to abuse a frightened, vulnerable child with no one there to protect her,” the complaint said.

Giuffre has said Epstein brought her to London to meet Andrew, and kept her as a “sex slave” with help from Maxwell, the daughter of late British media mogul Robert Maxwell. Signed by Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies, the complaint accused Andrew of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

The complaint included a widely circulated photo of Giuffre and Andrew, both smiling, standing next to each other, with Giuffre wearing a pink tank top. Giuffre said the photo was taken at Maxwell’s home before Andrew’s alleged abuse.

Maxwell previously settled a separate civil defamation lawsuit by Giuffre. She has separately pleaded not guilty to engaging in sex trafficking and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse. Her trial in Manhattan could begin in November.

Giuffre sued Andrew under the Child Victims Act, a New York state law allowing many child abuse victims to pursue claims against their alleged abusers, even if the abuse occurred decades earlier. A window to bring many such claims expires this week.

Earlier on Monday, the administrator of a fund to compensate Epstein’s victims said she has completed the payout process, giving more than $121 million to about 138 people.