Prince Andrew faces s-ex-ual assault charges: US judge

Britain's Prince Andrew will face a civil trial in the United States on charges of s-exually assaulting a woman. The woman was 17 years old at the time of the alleged incident.

Virginia Joffrey claims that Prince Andrew se-xu-ally abused her in 2001.


The prince's lawyers said the case should be dropped. He cites a 2009 agreement Joffrey made with convicted s-ex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But a New York judge has ruled that the charges could be heard.

Prince Andrew has consistently denied these claims. Buckingham Palace said it would not comment on the ongoing legal proceedings.

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York dismissed the appeal in his 46-page decision, which means the 61-year-old Duke of York could face trial this year.

According to court documents, Jeffrey says she was s-ex-ually abused and abused by billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein. He also alleged that he was assigned to other powerful men.


Prince Andrew, the second son of the Queen of Great Britain, said in an interview with BBC News Night in 2019 that he had no recollection of ever meeting Virginia Jeffrey, and that he had never had s-ex with Jeffrey. ۔

Her lawyers say Jeffrey told the court in 2009 after a settlement with Epstein that she would not sue anyone else connected with Epstein.

During the virtual hearing, the lawyers said that according to the agreement, the Duke of York is a "potential defendant" and the case should be "dismissed".

Virginia Jeffrey's lawyer said that only the parties to the settlement agreement could benefit, not any "third party".


Judge Kaplan ruled that the agreement was not intended to benefit the Duke of York.

He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture, and that his confession had been obtained through torture.

He added that for similar reasons, the court could no longer rule that, in fact, what the parties to the 2009 settlement agreement, signed by Miss Jeffrey and Jeffrey Epstein, had done. What did it mean? '


Hard days and big decisions

The BBC's royal affairs correspondent Sean Caglin writes that the result means that Prince Andrew has difficult days ahead and big decisions ahead.


Reputation was threatened before Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Jeffrey used the agreement to try to stop the case.

Now that it has been rejected, the case against him will proceed and Jeffrey and Prince Andrew's lawyers will review each other's stories, which will require detailed personal evidence.


Now, in the fall, a civil lawsuit is being filed in New York, where Jeffrey could file charges.

Prince Andrew, who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, will have the opportunity to make his name public.

But it's hard to imagine the royal family wanting to see this heartbreaking trial in a New York court.

This could mean an out-of-court settlement. But even that is not the best solution, because the charges will remain unresolved.

In this state of pressure, good solutions for the prince are running out.