Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Judge: Prince Andrew Must Face Sex-Abuse Lawsuit Tied to Epstein

Judge: Prince Andrew Must Face Sex-Abuse Lawsuit Tied to Epstein

Prince Andrew failed to convince a judge to toss a lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing a teenage girl decades ago. In a 46-page document, Judge Lewis Kaplan said the royal's motion to have the case dismissed was "denied in all respects", meaning a civil trial will take place later this year.

Virginia Giuffre claims the British royal was one of several powerful men to whom Jeffrey Epstein “lent” her for abuse as a teenager. Andrew has denied her allegation but also argued to a federal judge in New York that he’s shielded from the suit by a 2009 settlement between Giuffre and Epstein.

Prince Andrew has denied the allegations and had moved to dismiss the suit.

A federal judge in New York on Wednesday denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against Prince Andrew filed by Virginia Giuffre, a woman who alleges she was sexually trafficked to the royal when she was underage.

"Ms. Giuffre's complaint is neither 'unintelligible' nor 'vague' nor 'ambiguous,'" Judge Lewis Kaplan wrote in the ruling. "It alleges discrete incidents of sexual abuse in particular circumstances at three identifiable locations. It identifies to whom it attributes that sexual abuse."

Andrew's motion was to dismiss Ms Giuffre's complaint as "legally insufficient - not to determine the truth or falsity of charges in her complaint", according to the judge.

He said the prince "relies mainly, although not exclusively" on a 2009 agreement between Ms Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein, who she alleges trafficked her to have sex with the royal.

The duke had argued that Ms Giuffre waived her right to sue him when she signed a $500,000 settlement with Epstein.

The judge said the court was prohibited "at this stage" from considering Andrew's efforts to "cast doubt on the truth of Ms Giuffre's allegations".

The judge said the agreement between Epstein and Ms Giuffre was "the crux" of Andrew's motion.

The royal had argued Ms Giuffre's claims against him were "barred" by the terms of the settlement, he added.

The 2009 document said Ms Giuffre had agreed to "release, acquit, satisfy, and forever discharge" Epstein and "any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant".

The judge said there were "two pivotal issues"; whether the language in the agreement "unambiguously applies" to Andrew, and whether the duke - who was not mentioned by name in the settlement - was entitled to invoke it.

"The 2009 agreement is far from a model of clear and precise drafting," the judge said.

On whether Andrew was a "potential defendant" in the 2009 case, the judge said that "unless the terms of an agreement leave no unreasonable doubt… the ambiguity must be resolved by the trier of fact, ordinarily a trial jury".

The judge said "better drafting" of the 2009 agreement "could have eliminated any uncertainty" but the meaning of the phrase was "far from self-evident".

The judge said that "at one level… literally anyone 'could have been included as a… defendant'".

"If the plaintiff had wished to include someone else - anyone else - as a defendant, she easily could have done so," he added.

"Someone can be included as a defendant in a lawsuit simply by including that person's name in the caption of a complaint. Nothing else is required."

The judge said logic suggested Ms Giuffre and Epstein had "competing goals" and the "muddled" language in the agreement "may have arrived at something of a middle ground".

"It is enough to conclude that the meaning of this pivotal phrase in the contract is not by any means unambiguous and free of conflicting inferences," he went on.

"The agreement is therefore ambiguous. Accordingly the determination of the meaning of the release language of the 2009 agreement must await further proceedings."

The judge said the confidentially clause of the 2009 agreement "could reasonably be interpreted" that " no one was intended to use the terms… in any proceeding or case involving Epstein".

"The 2009 agreement cannot be said to demonstrate, clearly and unambiguously, the parties intended the instrument 'directly,' 'primarily,' or 'substantially,' to benefit Prince Andrew," he added.

The judge said that Ms Giuffre's claim that she was forced to sit on Andrew's lap while he touched her was "sufficient to state a battery claim under New York law, regardless of which part/parts of her body defendant ultimately is alleged to have touched".

He added that "it should go without saying that the alleged conduct, if it occurred, reasonably could be found to have gone 'beyond all possible bounds of decency and is intolerable in a civilised community'."

He said Ms Giuffre "asserts that the alleged battery caused some measure of 'extreme emotional distress' and 'psychological trauma'."

The judge said Andrew's motion for "a more definite statement" on Ms Giuffre's allegations was "meritless".

"Ms (Virginia) Giuffre's complaint is neither 'unintelligible' nor 'vague' nor 'ambiguous'," he added.

"It alleges discrete incidents of sexual abuse in particular circumstances at three identifiable locations. It identifies to whom it attributes that sexual abuse.

"While he understandably seeks more detail about the precise details of (Ms Giuffre's) claims, he will be able to obtain that detail during pretrial discovery."

The judge said Andrew's suggestion that he "cannot reasonably prepare a response" to Ms Giuffre's allegations "plainly contradicts" his previous documents in which he denies her claims "in no uncertain terms".



Judge's conclusion

In his conclusion, the judge said: "For all the foregoing reasons, defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint or for a more definite statement is denied in all respects."

He added that "given the court's limited task of ruling on this motion, nothing in this opinion or previously in these proceedings properly may be construed as indicating a view with respect to the truth of the charges or counter-charges".

Andrew, who denies the allegations against him, has until July 14 to potentially answer questions about the case under oath, following a ruling made by Kaplan last year. If the case is not settled, Prince Andrew could face a trial date between September and December 2022.

Giuffre alleged in the lawsuit that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends, including the Prince, and that Andrew was aware she was underage (17) in the US at the time. She alleges the Prince sexually abused her at Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands, at his mansion in Manhattan and at his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell's home in London.

The ruling sets up a dramatic series of legal proceedings for Queen Elizabeth II's third child that could have major ramifications for Buckingham Palace. The long-running allegations against Andrew, 61, have already dramatically tarnished his public standing, and he stepped back from royal duties in late 2019.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment, saying, "We would not comment on what is an ongoing legal matter."
Giuffre's attorney Sigrid McCawley said the judge's ruling is "another important step in Virginia's heroic and determined pursuit of justice as a survivor of sex trafficking."

The civil suit stems from the sprawling and disturbing allegations against Epstein, the wealthy sex offender who befriended a series of powerful men despite a sketchy history.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to state prostitution charges and in July 2019 was indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors accused him of carrying out a decades long scheme of sexual abuse of underage girls, flying them on private planes to his properties in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the US Virgin Islands. He died by so called “suicide” in prison before he could face trial.

Maxwell, his former girlfriend and close associate, was arrested in 2020 and accused of facilitating the abuse scheme. A federal jury convicted her in December on five federal counts, including sex trafficking a minor and conspiracy.

Giuffre was not one of the four women who testified in Maxwell's trial that they had been abused. Still, she was mentioned in the trial when Carolyn, one of the victims, testified that Giuffre had recruited her to come to Epstein's home in Palm Beach, Florida.





AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
×