By Kenneth Tiven
Dead men can’t talk, but their victims often do for a very long time. This explains why British Prince Andrew finds himself sued in a US federal court in New York.
It stems from sex trafficking crimes involving the deceased Jeffrey Epstein. The wealthy Epstein was ruled to have killed himself in a New York jail cell a year ago while awaiting trial.
The suit comes from Virginia Roberts Giuffre, now 38, who was an underage girl when Epstein allegedly used her for sex. Her suit claims Epstein arranged for Prince Andrew to sexually abuse her at his mansion in New York in 2001 when she was 17.
The prince himself repeatedly has denied having sex with her, or had his representatives deny it. He tried in a disastrous television interview in 2019 to make it all go away, claiming “it didn’t happen with no recollection of ever meeting her.” Andrew has stepped down from royal duties amid the Epstein sex scandal with his reputation left in tatters.
Her lawyers are asking for a jury trial because ,“again Prince Andrew stonewalled – ignoring [the] plaintiff’s letter and emails without any reply or response, thereby making this action necessary now.”
Also Read: Andrew Cuomo resigns as New York Governor over sexual harassment charges
It is unclear if a US court can compel his appearance. Last year the then US attorney for the southern district of New York, Geoffrey Berman, publicly accused Andrew of trying to “falsely portray himself to the public as eager and willing to cooperate” and said a request to schedule an interview had been repeatedly declined.
Andrew is the only defendant named in the 15-page suit, brought under New York state’s Child Victims Act. The narrative contains frequent mentions of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell . The lawsuit states that on one occasion, the prince sexually abused her in London at the home of Maxwell, when Epstein, Maxwell and Andrew forced her to have sexual intercourse with the prince against her will. Maxwell is in jail in New York awaiting trial accused of procuring underage girls for Epstein.