LONDON — British police mentioned Monday that they might take no motion after reviewing a doc associated to a U.S. civil sexual assault lawsuit filed towards Queen Elizabeth II’s son, Prince Andrew.
Virginia Giuffre, who has accused Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was a teen, filed the go well with in August in New York’s Southern District. The go well with alleges that convicted intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 after he was arrested on federal intercourse trafficking fees, and his longtime affiliate, Ghislaine Maxwell, compelled her to have interaction in sexual acts with Andrew 20 years in the past.
She sued Andrew beneath New York State’s Little one Sufferer’s Act, alleging he dedicated “rape within the first diploma.”
Andrew, the Duke of York, has at all times vehemently denied the allegations. In a 2019 interview with the BBC, he mentioned he has “no recollection” of ever assembly Giuffre. He additionally recommended {that a} {photograph} of them along with Epstein affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell might have been doctored.
The go well with alleges that Andrew abused her at three areas — in London and New York and at Epstein’s non-public island within the U.S. Virgin Islands, when she was beneath the age of 18. It mirrors claims that Giuffre, now 38, beforehand detailed to NBC’s “Dateline.”
The Metropolitan Police primarily based in London mentioned within the assertion that it “continues to liaise with different legislation enforcement companies who lead the investigation into issues associated to Jeffrey Epstein.”
Nonetheless, its investigation into the doc launched in August has concluded and no motion will likely be taken. The police additionally confirmed it had ended its overview of Maxwell and allegations reported by Britain’s Channel 4 in June that she trafficked, groomed and abused women and girls within the U.Ok.
Maxwell, who’s British, is in jail within the U.S. awaiting trial on fees that she recruited teenage ladies for Epstein to abuse. She pleaded not responsible in federal courtroom this yr and has lengthy denied any wrongdoing.
Police chief Cressida Dick mentioned in August that “nobody is above the legislation.”
The police division had beforehand appeared into claims associated to Epstein. After taking authorized recommendation it determined to not pursue additional motion as a result of the actions concerned passed off primarily exterior its jurisdiction.
After the information of Monday’s police choice within the U.Ok., the hashtag #abolishthemonarchy and #PrinceAndrew trended on social media, with some customers suggesting that the police choice to forgo additional motion was reached due to Andrew’s royal background.
Ninth in line to the throne, Andrew has mentioned beforehand that he first met Epstein in 1999 and had stayed at a lot of his residences, however noticed him sometimes. The controversy over their relationship and his disastrous interview on the BBC led to his stepping away from his royal duties in 2019.
In June 2020, federal prosecutors in New York formally requested via the British authorities to talk with Andrew as a part of their felony investigation into Epstein, in line with an individual conversant in the matter. His legal professionals responded that that they had provided his assist as a witness on a minimum of three events.
