Prince Andrew with Virginia Giuffre and Ghislain Maxwell.
- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by a woman who accused Prince Andrew of Britain of sexually assaulting her when she was underage after both sides agreed to settle the case out of court.
- The tossing of Virginia Giuffre's case was expected after the disclosure by her lawyer on Feb. 15 that Andrew had agreed to pay Giuffre an undisclosed sum of money to withdraw her civil suit.
- Giuffre claimed Andrew assaulted her on several occasions as a girl years ago, while she was under the control of sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell.
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by a woman who accused Prince Andrew of Britain of sexually assaulting her when she was underage after both sides agreed to settle the case out of court.
The tossing of Virginia Giuffre's case was expected after the disclosure by her lawyer on Feb. 15 that Andrew had agreed to pay Giuffre an undisclosed sum of money to withdraw her civil suit.
Giuffre has claimed Andrew assaulted her on several occasions as a girl years ago, while she was under the control of sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein and his convicted procurer, Ghislaine Maxwell, both of whom were friends with the prince.
A court filing by lawyers in the case seeking the dismissal earlier Tuesday came as multiple British media outlets reported that Andrew had paid Giuffre the agreed-upon amount.
Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan granted the request hours later.
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In the same court Tuesday a hearing was held on a bid by Maxwell seeking to toss out her criminal conviction in December for obtaining other underage girls to be abused by Epstein.
Money Report
Maxwell's lawyers say a juror at her trial lied on a jury questionnaire about not having been a child sex abuse victim before telling reporters after the case ended that he had been such a victim. Prosecutors have asked a judge to grant the juror immunity from prosecution so that he can be forced to answer questions Tuesday about his differing statements under oath.
Juror 50 testified that he had not meant to mislead anyone when he hurriedly filled out the questionnaire.
Andrew previously had strongly denied Giuffre's allegations and also claimed not to recall ever meeting Giuffre. He has not recanted those denials.
But the Duke of York reached an out-of-court, confidential agreement with her to settle the case after failing to get Judge Kaplan to dismiss the lawsuit, setting the stage for Andrew to be questioned under oath by Giuffre's lawyers.
The agreement came shortly after Andrew's already tattered reputation due to his connection to Maxwell and Epstein was dealt even more blows by being stripped of his military titles and other honorifics related to being a member of Britain's royal family.
As part of the settlement, Andrew, who is a son of Queen Elizabeth II, agreed to make "a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights."
A statement by his lawyers and Giuffre's counsel last month said the prince "regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others."
"He pledges to demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein by supporting the fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims," that statement said.
Epstein killed himself by hanging in a Manhattan federal jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges, authorities have said.
