New York: The US judge has refused the offer by Prince British Andrew to stop Virginia Giuff’s lawsuit which accused the Duke of York of York sexually abusing him when he was 17 years old and traded by the deceased investors Jeffrey Epstein.
In a decision published on Wednesday, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said that it was premature to consider Prince’s efforts to give doubts about Giuffe’s allegations, even though he would be allowed to do that at the trial.
Kaplan said it was also too early to decide whether Giuff and Epstein intended to free people like Andrew in their 2009 settlement agreement.
Such settlements can limit the plaintiff from pursuit of further litigation, even against third parties.
Lawyers for Andrew and Giuffe did not immediately respond to a comment request.
Andrew has denied Giuffe’s allegations that he forced him to have more than two decades in London’s house from the former Epstein Ghislaine Maxwell association, and harassed it in two other Epstein properties.