A case to answer: Prince Andrew ordered to face sex abuse accuser
Prince Andrew has failed to persuade a US judge to dismiss Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was underage, and being trafficked by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In a decision made public on Wednesday, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said Giuffre, 38, was entitled to pursue claims that Andrew battered her and intentionally caused her emotional distress.
The judge said it was premature to consider Andrewâs efforts to âcast doubtâ on those claims although the 61-year-old prince could do so at a trial.
Kaplan said it was also too soon to decide whether Giuffre and Epstein âclearly and unambiguouslyâ intended to release people like Andrew through a 2009 settlement agreement resolving Giuffreâs lawsuit against the late financier.
Lawyers for Andrew and Giuffre did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The decision keeps Giuffreâs case against Andrew on track for a trial that Kaplan has said could begin late this year.
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While the claims have not been proven and the prince is not accused of criminal wrongdoing, his ties to Epstein have damaged his reputation and cost him many royal duties.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment on Kaplanâs decision.
Andrew has denied Giuffreâs accusations that he forced her to have sex more than two decades ago at a London home of former Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and abused her at Epsteinâs properties in Manhattan and the British Virgin Islands.
Epstein was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in what New York Cityâs medical examiner ruled a suicide.
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Maxwell, 60, was convicted on December 29 of recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
She is seeking a new trial after one juror told media, including Reuters , that during jury deliberations he had discussed being a victim of sexual abuse.
In his 44-page decision, Kaplan said the âmuddledâ language in Giuffreâs and Epsteinâs 2009 settlement agreement suggested that they may have arrived at âsomething of a middle groundâ on whether to shield Andrew or others from future lawsuits.
âWe do not know what, if anything, went through the partiesâ minds,â Kaplan wrote.
âThe parties have articulated at least two reasonable interpretations of the critical language. The agreement therefore is ambiguous.â
Settlement agreements can restrict plaintiffs like Giuffre from pursuing further litigation, even against third parties.
Giuffre was awarded $US500,000 ($A688,805) in the 2009 settlement.
Kaplan also rejected Andrewâs claim that letting Giuffre sue violated his due process rights under New Yorkâs constitution.
Giuffre had sued Andrew in 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.
Kaplan called that window, which was extended by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, âa reasonable measure for remedying injustice to victimsâ of child sex abuse.
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