Prince Andrew accuser agreed not to sue ‘other defendants’ in Epstein deal

Lawyers for the British royal argue that the settlement means Virginia Giuffre’s US lawsuit should be dismissed

By AFP

Published: Mon 3 Jan 2022, 11:25 PM

Prince Andrew’s sexual assault accuser had agreed not to sue “other potential defendants” related to Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sex crimes, a once-confidential document released Monday showed.

Lawyers for the British royal argue that the settlement, unveiled by a New York court, means Virginia Giuffre’s US lawsuit against the prince should be dismissed.

Advertising

The previously secret agreement, made in Florida in 2009, shows that Giuffre settled her lawsuit against the late disgraced money manager Epstein for $500,000.

It does not mention Andrew directly but contains a provision that claims to protect “other potential defendants” from being sued related to alleged sexual abuse committed by Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019.

ALSO READ:

US: Maxwell-Epstein victims ‘relieved and grateful’ after guilty verdict

UK's Prince Andrew can’t halt lawsuit with domicile claim, says US judge

The document says Giuffre will “remise, release, acquit, satisfy, and forever discharge the said Second Parties and any other person or entity who could have been included as a potential defendant (‘Other Potential Defendants’) from all, and all manner of, action and actions.”

It adds that provision relates to claims made in state and federal courts.

Andrew’s lawyers have cited this stipulation in their arguments that Giuffre’s lawsuit in New York against Queen Elizabeth II’s second son should be thrown out.

They will cite it when judge Lewis Kaplan hears oral arguments in the case on Tuesday.

Giuffre alleges that Epstein lent her out for sex with his wealthy and powerful associates, including Andrew.

She has sued the British royal for unspecified damages, alleging he sexually assaulted her in 2001 when she was 17 and a minor under American law.

The 61-year-old Andrew has not been criminally charged and has repeatedly and strenuously denied the allegations.

Lawyers for Giuffre argue that her settlement with Epstein is irrelevant to her case against Andrew.

Giuffre says Prince Andrew assaulted her at Epstein’s home in New York, and on his private island in the US Virgin Islands.

She alleges that Andrew also sexually abused her at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, who was last week found guilty of sex trafficking minors for Epstein.

Maxwell, who introduced Andrew to Epstein in the early 1990s, faces life behind bars after being convicted by New York jurors of five of the six counts she faced following a high-profile month-long trial.

Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in 2019, in what New York’s coroner ruled was a suicide, after being charged with child sex trafficking charges.

Andrew has rarely been seen in public since he was forced to quit the royal frontline later that year for failing to distance himself from the disgraced financier.

Tuesday’s hearing starts at 10:00 am (1500 GMT) and will be held via video conference.

Attempts by Andrew’s lawyers to halt progression of the lawsuit on the grounds that Giuffre now lives in Australia were rejected by Kaplan on Friday.

Giuffre’s lawyers have demanded that Andrew hand over medical records proving that he is unable to sweat.

In a disastrous 2019 interview with the BBC, the royal denied Giuffre’s claim that they had shared a sweaty dance at a London nightclub, saying that at the time he could not sweat due to a condition related to having fought in the 1982 Falklands War.