Virginia Roberts Giuffre, an alleged victim of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein who settled a defamation lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell for an undisclosed amount in 2017, filed a lawsuit Monday against Britain’s Prince Andrew for sexually abusing her when she was under the age of 18.
Giuffre, now 38, has previously said that Epstein paid her to have sex with the 61-year-old Duke of York while she was 17, as CrimeOnline previously reported. Andrew has denied the allegations.
Epstein died in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges two years ago. The lawsuit was filed two days before a New York state law that allows alleged victims of child sexual abuse to sue beyond statutes of limitations was due to expire.
“If she doesn’t do it now, she would be allowing him to escape any accountability for his actions,” Giuffre’s attorney, David Boies, chairman of Boies, Schiller Flexner, told ABC News. “And Virginia is committed to trying to avoid situations where rich and powerful people escape any accountability for their actions.”
The lawsuit accuses Andrew of sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“Twenty years ago, Prince Andrew’s wealth, power, position, and connections enabled him 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,” the lawsuit says.
A U.K.-based spokesperson for Prince Andrew told ABC there would be no comment on the suit.
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[Featured image: Prince Andrew/Steve Parsons/Pool Photo via AP, file and Virginia Roberts Giuffree/AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, file]