WARNING: This story comprises particulars of sexual abuse and might have an effect on those that have skilled sexual violence or know somebody affected by it.
The girl who accused Britain’s Prince Andrew and different influential males of sexually exploiting her as a youngster trafficked by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has died. She was 41.
Virginia Giuffre died by suicide Friday at her farm in Western Australia, her publicist confirmed.
“Deeply loving, smart and humorous, she was a beacon to different survivors and victims,” publicist Dini von Mueffling stated in an announcement.
“She adored her youngsters and lots of animals. She was at all times extra involved with me than with herself. I’ll miss her past phrases. It was the privilege of a lifetime to symbolize her.”
The American-born Giuffre, who lived in Australia for years, turned an advocate for intercourse trafficking survivors after rising as a central determine in Epstein’s extended downfall.
Giuffre stated Epstein compelled her to have intercourse with Prince Andrew
Epstein, the rich, well-connected New York cash supervisor, died by suicide in August 2019 in a New York jail whereas awaiting trial on U.S. federal intercourse trafficking fees involving dozens of teenage ladies and younger ladies, some as younger as 14. The fees got here 14 years after police in Palm Seashore, Fla., first started investigating allegations that he sexually abused underage ladies who have been employed to provide him massages.
Giuffre got here ahead publicly after the preliminary investigation led to an 18-month Florida jail time period for Epstein, who made a secret deal to keep away from federal prosecution by pleading responsible as a substitute to comparatively minor state-level fees of soliciting prostitution. He was launched in 2009.
In subsequent lawsuits, Giuffre stated she was a teenage spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago — U.S. President Donald Trump’s Palm Seashore membership — when she was approached in 2000 by Epstein’s girlfriend and later worker, Ghislaine Maxwell.
Giuffre stated Maxwell employed her as a masseuse for Epstein, however the couple successfully made her a sexual servant, pressuring her into gratifying not solely Epstein however his buddies and associates. Giuffre stated she was flown around the globe for assignations with males, together with Prince Andrew, when she was 17 and 18.
The boys denied it and assailed Giuffre’s credibility. She acknowledged altering some key particulars of her account, together with the age at which she first met Epstein. However many elements of her story have been supported by paperwork, witness testimony and photographs — together with one in all her and Andrew, along with his arm round her naked midriff, in Maxwell’s London townhouse.
Giuffre stated in one in all her lawsuits that she had intercourse with the royal thrice: in London throughout her 2001 journey, at Epstein’s New York mansion when she was 17 and within the Virgin Islands when she was 18.
Royal settled with Giuffre
Andrew categorically rejected Giuffre’s allegations and stated he did not recall having met her.
His denials blew up in his face throughout a November 2019 BBC interview. Viewers noticed a prince who proffered curious rebuttals — akin to disputing Giuffre’s recollection of sweaty dancing by saying he was medically incapable of perspiring — and confirmed no empathy for the ladies who stated Epstein abused them.
Inside days of the interview, Andrew stepped down from his royal duties. He settled with Giuffre in 2022 for an undisclosed sum, agreeing to make a “substantial donation” to her survivors’ group.
An announcement filed in courtroom stated that the prince acknowledged Epstein was a intercourse trafficker and Giuffre “a longtime sufferer of abuse.”
She additionally filed, and in a minimum of some circumstances settled, lawsuits in opposition to Epstein and others related to him. In a single case, she dropped her claims in opposition to a outstanding U.S. lawyer, saying she may need erred in figuring out him as one of many males to whom Epstein provided her.
Epstein’s loss of life put an finish to his accusers’ hopes of holding him criminally accountable.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on federal intercourse trafficking and conspiracy fees and was sentenced to 20 years in jail. She stated she wasn’t in charge for Epstein’s abuse.
Prosecutors elected to not embrace Giuffre’s allegations within the Maxwell case, however Giuffre later instructed the courtroom that the British socialite had “opened the door to hell.”
Giuffre additionally recalled childhood sexual abuse
Giuffre, born Virginia Roberts, instructed interviewers that her childhood was shattered when she was sexually abused as a grade-schooler by a person her household knew. She later ran away from dwelling and endured extra abuse, she stated.
She stated she met her now-husband in 2002 whereas taking therapeutic massage coaching in Thailand at Epstein’s behest. She married, moved to Australia and had a household.
Final month, Giuffre’s publicist stated she had been hospitalized after a severe accident. She did not reply questions concerning the date, location, nature or different specifics of the accident, or concerning the accuracy of an Instagram put up that appeared to come back from Giuffre on Sunday, saying she had been in a automotive that was hit by a college bus and that her prognosis was dire.
The Related Press doesn’t determine individuals who say they have been victims of sexual assault until they’ve come ahead publicly, as Giuffre did.
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