Prince Andrew urged to tell all he knows about Jeffrey
Epstein
Lawyer for abuse
victim asks prince to support investigation into late financier’s crimes
Jon Swaine in New York
@jonswaine
Mon 19 Aug 2019 17.50 BST Last modified on Tue 20 Aug 2019
00.34 BST
Prince Andrew should give sworn testimony on “everything he
knows” about his friend Jeffrey Epstein after saying he was appalled by the
disgraced financier’s sex crimes, lawyers for some of Epstein’s victims have
said.
Representatives
of women including Virginia Giuffre, who was pictured with Andrew in a now
notorious photograph and alleges she was made to have sex with him, urged the
prince to help them secure justice for the women Epstein abused.
“I look forward
to coordinating a formal deposition where he will be given the opportunity to
tell us everything he knows,” Brad Edwards, a lawyer for Giuffre, told the
Guardian on Monday. “We would like to do this as soon as possible, at
his convenience, and again we are very appreciative of his willingness to
help.”
Epstein, 66, died this month in an apparent suicide in a New
York jail cell while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking. He was
accused of abusing underage girls and making some of them pleasure several of
his rich and powerful friends.
In a statement released on Sunday, Buckingham Palace said
Andrew was “appalled by the recent reports of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged
crimes”. It said he “deplores the exploitation of any human being and the
suggestion he would condone, participate in or encourage any such behaviour is
abhorrent”.
Allies of Epstein’s victims noted that Andrew stood by
Epstein even after some of his offending came to light. Over the weekend the
Mail on Sunday published new photographs of Andrew’s visit to Epstein’s $56m
home in December 2010 – two years after the money manager pleaded guilty to
soliciting prostitution from a minor.
In February 2011 the News of the World ran photographs of
the pair walking in Central Park during the same trip under the headline
“Prince Andy and the Paedo”, setting off a storm around their friendship that
has raged ever since.
There was renewed anger on Monday after the resurfacing of
details of Epstein’s visit to Balmoral Castle in 1999. Andrew hosted him and
his friend Ghislaine Maxwell, a daughter of the disgraced publisher Robert
Maxwell, who has been accused of assisting Epstein’s abuse and denies any
wrongdoing.
Giuffre alleged in 2011 testimony that Andrew “knows the
truth” about Epstein’s abuse of underage girls and said he should be made to
testify. In a December 2014 court filing she alleged that she was made to have
sex with Andrew among other friends of Epstein. He has always vehemently denied
the allegations. In 2015 a court decided that the allegations made by Giuffre
about the prince were “immaterial and impertinent” and ordered them to be
struck out of a claim against Epstein.
Edwards said on Monday that Andrew’s latest remarks “give
the impression that he will do his part to ensure the victims of Jeffrey
Epstein’s crimes are able to get answers and justice”. He added: “I would like to personally help him
provide these victims his assistance.”
Epstein’s 2008
guilty plea was part of a lenient deal for him and “any potential
co-conspirators” to avoid further prosecution over his extensive crimes. The
deal came under intense criticism for years, peaking after Donald Trump
appointed Alex Acosta, the prosecutor in Florida who oversaw the deal, to his
cabinet as labor secretary. Acosta resigned last month amid growing
anger over his role in the case.
Under the deal, Epstein served just 13 months in jail and
for much of that time was allowed out during the day to work from his office.
Records released by county authorities over the weekend showed that Epstein was
allowed to purchase two pairs of small women’s underwear from the jail shop
during his stay.
Investigators in New York revived inquiries into Epstein
after the Miami Herald newspaper published an investigative series last year.
Epstein was arrested after landing at a private airport last month and
prosecutors unveiled new trafficking charges against him.
The FBI continues to investigate Epstein’s abuse even after
his death, raising the possibility that former friends and associates could be
prosecuted. The Guardian revealed on Saturday that Jean-Luc Brunel, a French
modelling scout long accused of assisting Epstein, is also alleged to have
sexually assaulted models for decades. Brunel denies taking part in Epstein’s
crimes and any wrongdoing in his own right.
On Monday it also emerged that Epstein had signed a will
just two days before his death. The existence of the will, first reported by
the New York Post, opened a new legal front in what could be a lengthy battle
over his estate. Lawyers for the victims vowed to go after Epstein’s assets
even if the will had named beneficiaries, as his death means there will be no
trial on the criminal charges against him.
“Give his entire
estate to his victims. It is the only justice they can get,” one of
those lawyers, Lisa Bloom, told the Associated Press. “And they deserve it. And
on behalf of the Epstein victims I represent, I intend to fight for it.”
Agencies contributed reporting
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