Prince Andrew’s Accuser Virginia Giuffre Settlement With Epstein Made Public
Prince Andrew’s Accuser Virginia Giuffre Settlement With Jeffrey Epstein Made Public
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Virginia Giuffre, formerly known as Virginia Roberts, is suing the Duke of York for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. Prince Andrew denies the allegations.
The release of the document stemmed from Giuffre’s sexual abuse lawsuit against Prince Andrew, which she filed on 9 August in Manhattan federal court.
Giuffre has long accused Epstein and his sometime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell – now a convicted sex trafficker, after the conclusion of her New York trial last week – of forcing her into sex with the royal when she was 17.
The 2009 settlement between Virginia Giuffre and disgraced financier Epstein reveals he agreed to pay her $500,000 (£370,000) to end her legal claims against him.
Details of the confidential agreement were made public on Monday following an order by US judges.
Her settlement with Epstein reveals she agreed to dismiss her lawsuit against the financier “upon payment and clearance of the settlement amount”.
The document states that this would also “forever discharge… any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant… from all, and all manner of, action and actions of Virginia Roberts, including state of federal…”
The document adds that the agreement “represents a final resolution of a disputed claim and is intended to avoid litigation”.
“The settlement agreement shall not be construed to be an admission of liability or fault by any party,” it says.
Those involved in the settlement had agreed it was “not intended to be used by any other person nor be admissible in any proceeding or case against or involving Jeffrey Epstein, either civil or criminal”, according to the document.
The settlement relates to a Florida state case to which the duke was not a party.
Andrew is not mentioned in the released settlement. Nor is the lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who Giuffre has accused of sexual misconduct facilitated by Epstein, which he has repeatedly denied.
In a court filing on 29 October, Andrew’s attorneys said: “Giuffre settled her sex-trafficking and sexual-abuse claims against Epstein in 2009. In doing so, she provided Epstein with a general release of all claims against him and numerous other individuals and entities.
The attorneys also said: “Because Prince Andrew is a senior member of the British royal family, he falls into one of the expressly identified categories of persons, ie, royalty, released from liability under the release agreement, along with politicians, academicians, businessmen, and others allegedly associated with Epstein.
On 29 December, judges ordered the unsealing of the agreement, saying nobody –including representatives of Epstein’s estate – had made an adequate showing as to why it should remain under wraps.
On Tuesday, a New York judge will hear arguments on whether to dismiss Ms Giuffre’s lawsuit against Andrew, which is seeking unspecified damages.
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