Prince Andrew's bid to dismiss sex abuse accuser's lawsuit rejected by U.S. judge
CBC
Prince Andrew failed to persuade a U.S. judge to dismiss Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was underage.
In a decision made public on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said Giuffre could pursue claims that Andrew battered her and intentionally caused her emotional distress while the late financier Jeffrey Epstein was trafficking her.
The Manhattan judge said it was premature to assess Andrew's efforts to "cast doubt" on those claims, though the 61-year-old prince could do so at a trial.
Kaplan said it was also too soon to decide whether Giuffre's 2009 civil settlement with Epstein "clearly and unambiguously" shielded Andrew from being sued by Giuffre.
The judge did not address the merits of Giuffre's claims.
Lawyers for Andrew and Giuffre did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision.
Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth, has denied Giuffre's 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 two Epstein properties.
In the 2009 settlement, Epstein paid Giuffre $500,000 US, without admitting liability, to end her Florida lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was underage.
Kaplan's decision keeps Giuffre's case against Andrew on track for a trial that the judge has said could begin between September and December 2022 if no settlement is reached.
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.
Andrew's troubles grew after critics said he failed in a 2019 BBC interview to appear sympathetic toward Epstein's abuse victims.
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace declined to comment on Kaplan's decision.
Epstein killed himself at age 66 in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted on Dec. 29 of recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004.
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