Prince Andrew
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Prince Andrew will face civil court accused of sexually assaulting Virginia Giuffre in 2001. It comes after the royal’s lawyers requested that the complaint be dismissed which was denied by a federal judge in New York.

He is being sued by Giuffre – now 38-years-old – who was allegedly assaulted on multiple occasions when she was under the age of 18. She has also accused the notorious Jeffrey Epstein of trafficking her. In the lawsuit she alleges that Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew forced her to engage in sexual activity with the Queen’s second son.

Prince Andrew
Melania Trump, Prince Andrew, Gwendolyn Beck and Jeffrey Epstein at a party at the Mar-a-Lago club, Palm Beach, Florida, February 12, 2000. (Photo by Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)

The legal team for the disgraced Duke of York argued that a $500,000 USD settlement between Guiffre and Epstein in 2009 meant that Prince Andrew could not be sued. Judge Lewis Kaplan also dismissed his “meritless” suggestion that his accuser’s complaint needed to be “more definitive.”

“Ms. Giuffre’s complaint is neither ‘unintelligible’ nor ‘vague’ nor ‘ambiguous,’” Kaplan said. In explaining the ruling, Kaplan added, “The 2009 agreement cannot be said to demonstrate, clearly and unambiguously, the parties intended the instrument  ‘directly’, ‘primarily’ or ‘substantially’, to benefit Prince Andrew.”

Prince Andrew will face trial in Manhattan scheduled for later this year. Guiffre’s attorney Sigrid McCawley said the small victory was “another important step in Virginia‘s heroic and determined pursuit of justice as a survivor of sex trafficking.”

Prince Andrew
ASCOT, UNITED KINGDOM – JUNE 22: Royal Ascot Race Meeting Thursday – Ladies Day. Prince Andrew, Duke Of York and Ghislaine Maxwell At Ascot. With them are Edward (far left) and Caroline Stanley (far right), the Earl and Countess of Derby. (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

In late December close accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, was found guilty on five out of six counts for aiding Epstein in the trafficking of teenage girls for sexual abuse. She is accused of grooming teenagers as young as 14 between 1994 and 2004 for her former boyfriend.

The charges include conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and sex trafficking of minors.

“Ghislaine Maxwell made her own choices,” Assistant US Attorney Alison Moe said to the jury in December. “She committed crimes hand in hand with Jeffrey Epstein. She was a grown woman who knew exactly what she was doing.”

Stay tuned for further developments on the Prince Andrew case.

If you find this article triggering, please contact 1800 RESPECT for assistance.