Prince Andrew ‘knew his sex-abuse accuser had been trafficked’, New York court hears

Prince Andrew’s fate could be decided imminently, as newly released court documents claim he knew his accuser had been trafficked.

Prince Andrew is still awaiting a ruling on his bid to have Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault civil lawsuit against him thrown out of court.

Last Tuesday, New York judge Lewis Kaplan said he would rule “pretty soon” on whether Ms Giuffre can pursue her civil case, and is weighing up whether a settlement agreement between Epstein and Ms Giuffre offers Andrew protection from legal action, The Sun reports.

It has also been reported that Prince Andrew’s lawyers could “call Maxwell victim for defence in a bid to prove accuser Virginia Roberts wasn’t a victim”.

Prince Andrew denies all the allegations against him and says he does not remember meeting Ms Giuffre.

The legal action was lodged in New York under the Child Victims Act, which allows survivors of childhood sexual abuse to seek justice years after the normal time limit.

The Duke of York’s lawyers are attempting to get the case thrown out on a legal technicality, after the royal was hit with an almost $3 million in legal and public relations bills.

The Duke of York, 62, denies all claims made against him

Prince Andrew ‘knew his sex-abuse accuser had been trafficked’

The under-fire Duke knew his sex-abuse accuser had been trafficked to him, newly released court documents claim.

A hearing on a motion by the Duke to dismiss the civil case by Virginia Giuffre was held in New York last week.

In a transcript, the royal’s lawyer Andrew Brettler tells the judge: “She contends that Prince Andrew was aware that she was being trafficked.”

He added: “She claims that she was trafficked to a bunch of different categories of individuals, including royalty, academia, businessmen.

Judge Lewis Kaplan said he would rule on the motion 'soon'

“Those individuals would be part of the same enterprise.

“It wasn’t as if she is alleging that this was some secret trafficking arrangement.”

His team claims Ms Giuffre, now 38, signed a legal deal in 2009 agreeing not to pursue claims against paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators.

The Duke of York, 62, denies all claims made against him.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission