British Prince Andrew, the subject of a civil complaint for “sexual assault”, can he escape justice thanks to a 2009 agreement between his friend Jeffrey Epstein, accused of sex crimes and died in prison in 2019, and the one of his accusers?
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Federal justice in New York released Monday a hitherto confidential financial compensation settlement sealed in 2009 between Mr. Epstein and an American woman, Virginia Giuffre.
Under the terms of this agreement, Ms. Giuffre undertook not to file a complaint once morest Jeffrey Epstein or once morest “other potential defendants” in the entourage of the American multimillionaire, a sexual predator of minors who committed suicide in his prison. of New York in August 2019. Even before his criminal trial.
However, Prince Andrew, friend of Mr. Epstein and his companion and accomplice for 30 years Ghislaine Maxwell, is the subject of a civil complaint filed in New York in August by Ms. Giuffre for “sexual assault” committed in 2001, when she was 17 years old.
This civil action, which seeks damages of an unknown amount, has nothing to do with criminal proceedings and Andrew, who has always “categorically” denied these allegations, is not criminally prosecuted for crimes sexual.
Block the complaint
According to Virginia Giuffre, the second son of Queen Elizabeth would have sexually assaulted her three times more than 20 years ago at the home of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in New York, the US Virgin Islands, and London.
But the prince’s lawyers have been doing everything for six months to block this complaint and say that the 2009 agreement prevents legal action.
In fact, the settlement, which allowed Virginia Giuffre to receive $ 500,000, protected Jeffrey Epstein, but also, it seems, any “other potential accused” according to the imprecise legal formulation of the contract document of 2009.
The Duke of York’s name or royal title is not mentioned, but Andrew’s lawyers argue Ms Giuffre’s complaint is unfounded in law.
His judicial fate might end on Tuesday.
At 10:00 a.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT), a videoconference hearing is scheduled to be held between Manhattan Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan and lawyers for both parties to determine whether the complaint should be dismissed.
The judge has already rejected on December 31 another nullity request made by Andrew, on the grounds that Ms. Giuffre might not sue in the United States, because she “resides” in Australia.
Civil lawsuit at the end of 2022?
If all of Andrew’s remedies fail, a civil trial might be held “between September and December” 2022, Judge Kaplan suggested in the fall.
In addition, Ms. Giuffre’s lawyers asked last week that the prince produce a medical certificate attesting that his body cannot sweat, that he is thus never “sweaty”.
Indeed, in his last interview with the BBC in November 2019, deemed calamitous, he had denied having danced “in a sweat” with Virginia Giuffre in a nightclub in London more than 20 years ago, as the complainant had. recount. The prince would suffer from an impossibility of “sweating” since the Falklands War in 1982, when his body would have produced too much adrenaline.
Widely distributed, especially in the United Kingdom, a number of photos attest to the links between Andrew, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Virginia Giuffre. In particular a snapshot from 2000 showing the American financier, the British socialite and the prince on a hunting party at the Sandringham estate (east of England).
Another photo shows Andrew and Virginia Giuffre holding each other at the waist, all smiles, with Ghislaine Maxwell in the background. Andrew has always “categorically” denied the accusations and even expressed doubts regarding the authenticity of this photo.
But his friendship with the Epstein-Maxwell couple plunged him into turmoil and forced him to retire from public life.
For her part, Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted on December 29 in New York of sex trafficking of minors for the benefit of Jeffrey Epstein. Virginia Giuffre, who was not a party to the Maxwell trial, welcomed the judgment and said she hoped others “will be held to account”.
