Alleged Jeffrey Epstein victim takes issue with Prince Andrew statements

An alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein who claims she was also farmed out for sex with Prince Andrew has challenged the British royal to speak up, saying, "He knows exactly what he's done and I hope he comes clean about it."

The jet-setting middle son of Queen Elizabeth II was a years-long friend of the financier who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. But the prince strenuously denies any knowledge of criminal behaviour by Epstein, and has described himself as being "appalled" by allegations from many women who accused Epstein of sexual abuse.

Among them is Virginia Roberts Giuffre. She has said she was a 15-year-old working at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club when she was recruited to perform sex acts on Epstein. Giuffre said in a sworn affidavit that she was flown on Epstein's private planes to his properties in New Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Paris and New York, and said meetings were also arranged for sex in London and elsewhere with Prince Andrew.

Without making specific new allegations against theroyal, Giuffre used a New York court appearance Tuesday to heap more attention on Andrew's links to Epstein.

"He knows what he's done and he can attest to that," Giuffre told reporters outside the courthouse after she and 15 other women testified about abuse they allege they suffered at Epstein's hands.

Pressed for additional comment, she added: "He knows exactly what he's done and I hope he comes clean about it. Thank you."

There was no mention of the prince during the court hearing itself. But Giuffre's comments outside were widely reported in the U.K.media Wednesday, focusing further scrutiny on the 59-year-old prince,whose 10-year marriage with Sarah Ferguson ended in divorce in 1996, three years before the prince says he first met Epstein.

Andrew, others deny Giuffre claims

In a statement last Saturday, the prince, who served in the Royal Navy and worked in an ambassadorial role promoting Britain as an investment destination, said he saw Epstein "infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year. I have stayed in a number of his residences."

A photo in court records shows Andrew with his arm around Giuffre's waist.

In a document about her alleged experiences that was filed in a Federal Court in Florida, she claimed to have had sex with the prince three times in London and at Epstein's New York mansion when she was 17 and in the U.S. Virgin Islands when she was about 18. She alleged Epstein paid her about $15,000 US following the London trip.

Giuffre has aimed similar allegations against a long list of rich and powerful men, including a former U.S. senator, a former U.S. governor, a modelling agent and high-profile American lawyer Alan Dershowitz, with whom she was involved in a years-long legal battle. All of the men have denied the allegations and claimed she's making them up.

Epstein victims share harrowing accounts of assault and humiliation in court

5 years ago

Duration 2:18

In an extraordinary hearing, 16 women who say Jeffrey Epstein sexually assaulted them as teenagers shared their harrowing stories. One by one before a New York judge, they expressed the anger they feel toward the financier, who killed himself this month while awaiting trial.

Outside the 2-hour court hearing in New York, where Epstein's alleged victims poured out their anger, some crying,, Giuffre said: "We need to get to the bottom of everybody who is involved.

"I was recruited at a very young age from Mar-a-Lago and entrapped in a world that I didn't understand,and I've been fighting that very world to this day and I won't stop fighting. I will never be silenced until these people are brought to justice."

Brad Edwards, a lawyer representing Epstein accusers, said Tuesday he would welcome Andrew's help in trying to seek justice for the women.

"I personally extended that invitation to Prince Andrew multiple times. Anytime, we are ready and we have a lot of questions for him," he said. "We have specific pointed questions and if he really wants to help, then we want his help."

In his written statement, Andrew said: "At no stage during the limited time I spent with him did I see, witness or suspect any behaviour of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction."

That referred to Epstein's 2008 conviction after pleading guilty to prostitution-related state charge. Epstein served 13 months behind bars.

In his statement, Andrew acknowledged he also met Epstein after his release in 2010 but said it was a "mistake."

Trump and former president Bill Clinton, both known to have socialized with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, have also claimed their dealings with Epstein were minimal and superficial.

Epstein, 66, was found dead at the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Aug. 10, touching off outrage that such a high-profile prisoner could have gone unwatched at the Manhattan federal lockup. He was awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges involving dozens of teenage girls.