Britain's Prince Andrew has been sued in the US by a woman who claims he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.
Lawyers for 17-year-old Virginia Giuffre filed the lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan, taking the allegations she has repeatedly made publicly against the prince in an official venue.
It was the same court where Jeffrey Epstein was criminally charged with sex trafficking a month before he killed himself aged 66 in August 2019.
Giuffre has repeatedly made accusations against Epstein, his one-time girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell and Prince Andrew. But the new lawsuit is the first time she has directly confronted Andrea in such a formal setting.
It increases public relations pressure on the prince, even if he remains outside the reach of the courts. In a statement, Giuffre said she was "holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me."
"The powerful and the rich are not exempt from responsibility for their actions. I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but to reclaim your life by speaking out and demanding justice,” said Giuffre.
"I have not taken this decision lightly," she added. "As a mother and wife, my family comes first - and I know this action will subject me to further attacks from Prince Andrew and his surrogates - but I knew if I didn't follow through on this action, I would let them them and the victims everywhere below "- she said.
(BalkanWeb)
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