Prince Andrew Child Sex Abuse Case Overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Virginia Giuffre has filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew alleging he sexually abused her when she was a minor.
- Why: Guiffre was able to file the lawsuit in 2021 thanks to a new New York law allowing a window of time for people alleging child sexual abuse to file civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers no matter how much time had passed.
- Where: The lawsuit is being heard in a New York federal court.
A judge has rejected Prince Andrew’s argument that his rights to due process have been hurt by allowing a woman to allege he sexually abused her as a minor years after the alleged abuse.
In a ruling filed Jan. 12 in a New York federal court, Judge Lewis Kaplan shot down Prince Andrew’s claims that the law that allowed Virginia Giuffre to file a civil lawsuit against him is unconstitutional, CNN reports.
The judge said the prince was “not the first” to advance that argument, which had already been rejected by “every New York state and federal court to have encountered it.”
Jeffrey Epstein Trafficked Victim to Prince Andrew, Lawsuit Alleges
In her lawsuit, filed August 2021, Giuffre alleges that the late financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and forced her to have sex with his friends, including the Prince, and that Andrew was aware she was underage—17 years old— in the US at the time.
She alleges the prince sexually abused her at Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands, at his mansion in Manhattan, and at his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell’s home in London.
Judge Kaplan’s ruling upholding Giuffre’s case is a clear signal from the courts that the 2019 Child Victims Act will stand, Safe Horizon CEO Liz Roberts said. Safe Horizon advocated for the Child Victims Act for years.
“I see this ruling as very important, as another step in terms of really acknowledging the right of survivors to really bring their case to court,” Roberts told CNN. She added that defendants would still maintain their right to due process in court.
“All the law does is give them an opportunity to go to court. They still have to prove their case,” she said. “The defendant has access to all the usual protections in court as a defendant in a lawsuit.”
The Child Victims Act created a two-year window from Aug. 2019 to Aug. 2021 in which victims of child sexual abuse could file a civil lawsuit against a person or institution, no matter how much time had passed since the abuse.
The law also expanded the statute of limitations for potential child sexual abuse cases going forward. Previously, child sex abuse cases in New York could not be prosecuted more than five years after the crime occurred.
Giuffre filed suit in the final week of the lookback window. Prince Andrew has denied the allegations. He can still choose to appeal the ruling.
Meanwhile, sports coaches and faith leaders in the UK would no longer be able to legally have sexual relationships with 16 and 17-year-olds in their care, if new legislation introduced to Parliament in 2021 passes.
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