The settlement details are expected to be made public next week.
The details of a confidential settlement between late billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was abused by Epstein and coerced into having sex with Prince Andrew, will be made public some time next week.
According to The Hill, U.S. District Judges Lewis Kaplan and Loretta Preska ordered that the agreement be unsealed and released on or around January 3.
In their decision, the judges said they could find no compelling reason to keep the settlement secret.
As LegalReader.com has reported before, Giuffre had earlier filed a lawsuit against Britain’s Prince Andrew, saying she was forced to have sex with the royal while she was still underage.
While Andrew, a long-time Epstein acquaintance, has expressed his “ill-judged association” with the late billionaire, the British prince has repeatedly denied Giuffre’s allegations.
Despite photographs which seem to show Prince Andrew with his arm wrapped around Giuffre’s waist, Andrew insists he never met the woman—and that if he did, he cannot remember.
Andrew’s attorney in the United States—Andrew Brettler—argued that the settlement between Epstein and Giuffre must be kept confidential, since it covers “royalty” and was intended to cover any and all future claims Giuffre might make about Epstein’s alleged sex trafficking ring.
However, Giuffre attorney David Boies says that Prince Andrew is trying to use last-minute legal maneuvering to preserve what is left of his reputation.
A 2006 mugshot of Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested at the time for soliciting a prostitute. Public domain.“Prince Andrew’s attempt now to use the 2009 release as a get out of jail free card shows how desperate he is to dodge and duck the facts of what he did,” Boies said in a statement, adding that, “at most,” the settlement applied to persons involved in underlying litigation in Florida, where Epstein owned a mansion.
Similarly, another Giuffre attorney—Sigrid McCawley—called Prince Andrew’s argument that the confidential settlement releases him from liability yet “another in a series of tired attempts by Prince Andrew to duck and dodge the legal merits of the serious case Virginia Giuffre has brought.”
The Hill notes that, on Tuesday, Brettler called for Giuffre’s lawsuit to be dismissed, alleging that a Manhattan court cannot have jurisdiction in the case since Giuffre allegedly lived in Australia for several years despite her claims that she was a Colorado resident.
Epstein, notes Reuters, was a registered trafficker who committed suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
His accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, was on Wednesday convicted on multiple counts of assisting Epstein in the procurement and abuse of underage girls.
Sources
Epstein settlement with accuser who filed lawsuit against Prince Andrew to be made public
Epstein settlement with Giuffre to be made public, affects Prince Andrew case
Prince Andrew questions accuser Giuffre’s ability to pursue sex abuse lawsuit
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