Prince Andrew fails to dismiss US complaint for sexual assault

British Prince Andrew, embarrassed for years by his ties to the sulphurous financier Jeffrey Epstein, failed to have the civil complaint in New York rejected by an American who accused him of sexual assault in 2001, when she was 17 year.

In this case, embarrassing for Buckingham Palace, the second son of Queen Elizabeth, who vigorously denies the accusations, therefore still risks a civil trial. He can still appeal the ruling of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan, who dismissed his appeal.

If all appeals are refused and if no agreement between the parties is reached, this trial could be held “between September and December” 2022, said the same judge in the fall of 2021.

It has been years since Virginia Giuffre, a 38-year-old American now living in Australia, publicly pointed out Andrew. But last summer she decided to take the case to court and filed a lawsuit in New York City accusing her of being one of the powerful friends Jeffrey Epstein allegedly turned her over to be. he sexually abuses her.

Prince Andrew in Windsor, UK on April 11, 2021 (POOL / Steve Parsons)

Virginia giuffre

accuses the prince of having sexually assaulted her three times in 2001, when she was 17, in London, New York and the US Virgin Islands.

She “is obviously happy” that the prince’s request “was rejected” and that evidence can now “be gathered” to support her complaint, reacted her lawyer, David Boies.

– “Ambiguous” agreement –

The prince’s camp has been doing everything for six months to convince the American justice to abandon this procedure. This time, to obtain the dismissal of the complaint, his lawyers had brandished a 2009 agreement, by which Virginia Giuffre undertook not to prosecute Jeffrey Epstein, as well as “other potential defendants”, against a compensation of 500,000 dollars. from the American multimillionaire.

Main developments around the sexual assault complaint filed against Prince Andrew (AFP /)

But in a 46-page decision made public Wednesday, Judge Kaplan considers that the agreement “is far from being a model of clarity and precision in its drafting”, calling it “ambiguous”. Consequently, he judges that the prince’s request must be “refused in all respects”.

Virginia Giuffre’s attorneys argued that the prince was in no way “covered” by the 2009 transaction, which they claim was applicable only in Florida – Epstein had one of his residences in Palm Beach – and which he did not have. “not even knowledge” at the time.

The prince, 61, has been embarrassed for years by his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019, and his former partner Ghislaine Maxwell, found guilty in December of sex trafficking in Manhattan federal court and who now risks dozens. years in prison.

If the case continues, the prince may have to be questioned by the plaintiff’s lawyers. “It’s in a more informal setting than a court, but it can be very long, take many, many hours, and it can be aggressive,” former prosecutor Bennett Gershman told AFP.

– Playboy turned outcast –

Within the British royal family, the one who looked like a playboy and a courageous soldier, and who appears today as an outcast, “categorically” denies having attacked Virginia Giuffre.

(ld) Undated photo taken in an unspecified place, released on August 9, 2021 by the American justice of Prince Andrew in the company of Virginia Giuffre and Ghislaine Maxwell (US District Court – Southern District of New York (SDNY) / Handout)

In an interview deemed calamitous on the BBC in November 2019, the prince even claimed not to remember the young girl.

Widely distributed, photos attest to the proximity between Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Giuffre. A 2000 snapshot shows the American financier, British socialite and the Prince hunting in the east of England. In another, Andrew and Virginia Giuffre are holding each other at the waist, all smiles, with Ghislaine Maxwell in the background.

Judge Kaplan rejected another nullity request filed by the prince on December 31, on the grounds that Virginia Giuffre could not file a complaint in the United States because she resides in Australia.

arb-pdh / iba