A US judge has rejected a bid by Britain's Prince Andrew to dismiss Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was 17 and being trafficked by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In a decision made public on Wednesday, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said it was premature to consider the prince's efforts to cast doubt on Ms Giuffre's accusations, though he would be allowed to do so at a trial.
Mr Kaplan said it was also too soon to decide whether Ms Giuffre and Epstein intended to release people like Andrew in their 2009 settlement agreement. Such settlements can restrict plaintiffs from pursuing further litigation, even against third parties.
The parties have articulated at least two reasonable interpretations of the critical language,” Mr Kaplan said in a 43-page opinion.
“The agreement therefore is ambiguous. Accordingly, the determination of the meaning of the release language in the 2009 agreement must await further proceedings.”
Ms Giuffre claims Andrew was one of several powerful men to whom Epstein “lent” her for sexual abuse as a teenager. In her complaint she described an alleged encounter in London during which Epstein, his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and Andrew forced an underage Ms Giuffre to have sex. The prince has denied Giuffre’s allegations.
The ruling means that Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, will have to provide evidence demanded by Ms Giuffre’s team if he continues to defend the case, a process that could take many months or even years.
The prince stepped aside from representing the royal family publicly after a disastrous 2019 interview with the BBC in which he sought unsuccessfully to lay to rest suspicions tied to his friendship with Epstein and Maxwell.
Mr Kaplan had expressed scepticism about Andrew’s arguments in a January 4 hearing. And he declined to delay the pretrial exchange of evidence, a sign he was thinking about allowing the suit to go forward.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the judge’s decision.
Ms Giuffre sued Andrew last August, less than a week before the expiration of a state law giving accusers a two-year window to bring claims over alleged child abuse occurring long ago.
In his 44-page judgement, Mr Kaplan called the window, which was extended by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a "reasonable measure for remedying injustice to victims" of child sex abuse.
Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Long-time companion, Maxwell, was found guilty of conspiring in the sex trafficking of minors and four other charges in December. She faces a maximum of 40 years in prison.
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An artist's sketch of Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, listening as the guilty verdict for trafficking a minor is read in a New York City court. She was found guilty on five of six charges. Reuters -
Kevin Maxwell, Isabel Maxwell and Christine Maxwell, siblings of Ghislaine Maxwell, outside the New York City court where Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, was found guilty of trafficking minors. Reuters -
Defence lawyers Laura A Menninger and Jeffrey Pagliuca leave court in New York City after the guilty verdicts in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Reuters -
Kevin Maxwell, brother to Ghislaine Maxwell, leaves the New York City court where Ghislaine, former girlfriend of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted on five of six charges including trafficking a minor and transporting a minor for criminal sexual activity. Reuters -
News media outside the US Federal District Court House in New York City after Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty on five of the six charges she faced. EPA -
A New York courtroom artist's sketch shows United States District Judge Alison Nathan reading guilty verdicts against Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend of disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. AP -
Defence lawyer Bobbi Sternheim leaves the New York City court where a jury found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by her (Maxwell's) former boyfriend, US financier Jeffrey Epstein. AFP -
Defence lawyer Bobbi Sternheim leaves the New York City court where a jury found Ghislaine Maxwell guilty of recruiting and grooming young girls. AFP -
A courtroom sketch shows Ghislaine Maxwell, left, listening with her lawyer Jeffrey Pagliuca as a jury returns a guilty verdict in her sex trafficking trial in New York. AP
Agencies contributed to this report
