Britain's Prince Andrew arriving for a church service at St. Mary the Virgin Church in Hillington, Norfolk, eastern England, in January 2020. Photo: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images
Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein's longtime accusers, filed a lawsuit in New York against Prince Andrew on Monday alleging that the British royal sexually abused and raped her when she was 17 years old.
Driving the news: Giuffre alleges in the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, that the sexual abuse happened on three occasions nearly two decades ago after she was "lent out for sexual purpose" to the prince. He has denied any wrongdoing.
- Giuffre said in a statement to news outlets that she was suing him under the Child Victims Act.
The allegations: The suit alleges that the prince abused Giuffre on one occasion at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, a close associate of convicted sex offender Epstein, who pleaded not guilty earlier this year to sex-trafficking charges.
- "During this encounter, Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew forced [Giuffre] a child, to have sexual intercourse with Prince Andrew against her will," the lawsuit states.
- He's also accused of abusing her at Epstein's Manhattan mansion on Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- The lawsuit states that on each of these occasions, Giuffre "was compelled by express or implied threats by Epstein, Maxwell, and/or Prince Andrew to engage in sexual acts with Prince Andrew."
- It claims that she "feared death or physical injury to herself or another and other repercussions for disobeying Epstein, Maxwell, and Prince Andrew due to their powerful connections, wealth."
What she's saying: "I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me," Giuffre said.
- "As a mother and a wife, my family comes first — and I know that this action will subject me to further attacks by Prince Andrew and his surrogates," she added.
- "But I knew if I did not pursue this action, I would be letting them and victims everywhere down."
What he's saying: Prince Andrew told the BBC in a 2019 interview that he had "no recollection" of ever meeting Giuffre and suggested that a photograph of him with his arm around the-then 17-year-old may have been doctored.
- Prince Andrew could not immediately be reached for comment.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.