Judge reveals why sex abuse case against Prince Andrew could proceed

The judge presiding over Prince Andrew’s motion to dismiss a sex-abuse case says a decision will be made “pretty soon”.

A Manhattan federal judge appeared poised to allow a sex-abuse lawsuit against Prince Andrew move forward after a remote hearing on the embattled royal’s motion to dismiss the suit.

Judge Lewis Kaplan said he would come to a decision “pretty soon” on whether Virginia Giuffre’s civil case against Andrew can be dismissed.

He refused to be drawn on exactly what “pretty soon” means, but it could be the case that the judge returns with his decision within a matter of hours.

A source who knows Ms Giuffre told the New York Post Andrew could have avoided all this if he had just said sorry.

“Virginia has always just wanted the prince to acknowledge that he did something he shouldn’t have, she wants him to apologise. She has never made this all about money,” the source said.

“I think she would have dropped this a long, long time ago had the prince said he was guilty of wrongdoing, but he’s embroiled in denial which has brought him down.”

During yesterday’s virtual hearing, a lawyer for the Duke of York and a lawyer for accuser Virginia Giuffre argued over language in a settlement agreement inked in 2009 that Andrew’s lawyers have said shield him from legal liability, reports the New York Post.

The secret agreement, which was unsealed on Tuesday, was signed by millionaire peadophile Jeffrey Epstein and Giuffre in 2009.

Andrew’s lawyers have said it blocks Giuffre from taking legal action against “other potential defendants”, including Andrew.

Judge Kaplan, who is presiding over the case, said at the hearing that there could be a number of interpretations of the language – and raised another passage in the agreement that bars third parties from using it to escape being sued.

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Virginia Roberts Giuffre.

Britain's Prince Andrew, Duke of York.

“The defendant in this case … is within the category of people who are not entitled to use the terms of the settlement,” Kaplan said as he was listening to an argument by Giuffre’s lawyer, David Boies.

Boies replied, “The very terms of the contract preclude …” before Kaplan interrupted, “Use by a third party.”

Boies responded, “Exactly, which is Prince Andrew.”

But the prince’s lawyer, Andrew Brettler, argued Tuesday that the language in the settlement was intended to release a broad range of people from legal liability related to Giuffre’s claims against Epstein and his associates.

Prince Andrew and Virginia Roberts Guiffre at Ghislaine Maxwell's townhouse in London, Britain on March 13 2001.

Brettler repeatedly raised the reference to “other potential defendants” in the agreement, arguing that the phrase extended to Prince Andrew because he is someone who was not named in Giuffre’s suit against Epstein but could have been a defendant, given the “virtue of the allegations.”

Still, the judge questioned if that was the only interpretation of the language in the agreement – and whether it was reasonable to conclude Giuffre actually signed the pact with the intent for it to be narrow.

“The other party’s point of view might well have been to give the narrowest release she could give,” Kaplan said.

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and US financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The judge said he would soon issue a decision in writing about Prince Andrew’s motion to dismiss the suit.

In her lawsuit, Giuffre claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew at least three times — in London, New York and on Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean. Guiffre was directed to engage in the sex acts by Epstein and his cohort Ghislaine Maxwell — and was a minor on at least two of the occasions, the papers say.

In one instance, Maxwell made Giuffre sit on Andrew’s lap while he touched her in Epstein’s New York mansion, according to the suit.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York (L) speaks to Queen Elizabeth II.

“During this encounter, Maxwell forced Plaintiff, a child, and another victim to sit on Prince Andrew’s lap as Prince Andrew touched her. During his visit to New York, Prince Andrew forced Plaintiff to engage in sex acts against her will,” the suit states.

Giuffre “feared death or physical injury to herself” if she disobeyed Epstein and Maxwell’s orders, the suit states.

Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other counts Dec. 29 in Manhattan federal court. She faces up to 65 years in prison at her sentencing.

This article originally appeared inThe New York Post and is republished with permission

Originally published as Judge reveals why sex abuse case against Prince Andrew could proceed