Prince Andrew is served sexual assault lawsuit in United States

NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Andrew was served with a sexual assault lawsuit in the United States for a woman alleging she had been forced to have sex with him in the London home of a friend of a convicted sex offender have Jeffrey Epstein, court records show.

In a file in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Virginia Giuffre’s attorneys said they had emailed and FedEx the civil lawsuit to the prince’s Los Angeles-based attorney Andrew Brettler, and both copies had been received by Monday morning.

Under federal regulations, the Duke of York has 21 days to respond or could face a default judgment. Giuffre’s lawyers previously said they had also looked after Andrew, Queen Elizabeth’s second son, in the UK.

Andrew and his lawyers have denied Giuffre’s claims. The 61-year-old prince has not been charged with any crime. Giuffres lawsuit of August 9th demands unspecified damages. Continue reading

Brettler did not respond to a request for comment. There was no comment from the Prince’s London Legal Department.

Giuffre, 38, accused Andrew of forcing her to have sex in the London home of Epstein’s longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell when she was a minor.

She also said Andrew molested her at around the same time in Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and on Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Britain’s Prince Andrew leaves St. Mary the Virgin’s Church in Hillington, near the Sandringham Royal Estate, in Norfolk, United Kingdom, January 19, 2020. REUTERS / Chris Radburn / File Photo

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Epstein, a financier and registered sex offender, killed himself in a Manhattan prison in August 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial.

Giuffre sued under the New York City Child Victims Act, a 2019 law that gives survivors of childhood sexual abuse the option to sue their alleged perpetrators for behavior that occurred many years or decades earlier. The period of action has now expired.

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversees Giuffre’s lawsuit, has urged both sides not to bother with “techniques” and instead focus on the substance of the case.

“I see a lot of legal fees and time and delays that ultimately can’t be particularly productive for anyone,” Kaplan said at a September 13 hearing.

Last week the London High Court said it would arrange service on Andrew if the parties fail to work out their own agreement and gave the prince’s lawyers a week to appeal that decision.

A source close to the Duke’s attorneys said it was highly unlikely that a challenge would now be pursued. Continue reading

Maxwell pleaded not criminally guilty of helping recruit and care for underage girls so Epstein could abuse them. Your trial is on November 29th.

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Angus MacSwan

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