(Photo : Duncan McGlynn/Getty Images)
Royal Family Members Attend Crathie Church Near Balmoral
CRATHIE, ABERDEENSHIRE - AUGUST 11: Prince Andrew, Duke of York is driven from Crathie Kirk Church following the service on August 11, 2019 in Crathie, Aberdeenshire. Queen Victoria began worshipping at the church in 1848 and every British monarch since has worshipped there while staying at nearby Balmoral Castle. (Photo by Duncan McGlynn/Getty Images)
The first hearing in a lawsuit alleging Prince Andrew of sexual abuse and highlighting his association with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is scheduled for today in New York.
Since the News of the World published photos of the duo in Central Park in 2011, the Duke of York has been dogged by concerns about his ties to Epstein. The British press chastised Prince Andrew at the time for his ill-advised relationship with a guy convicted of soliciting prostitutes from a minor.
US court holds Prince Andrew's sexual abuse allegations today
Five years later, new claims surfaced, accusing the prince of having sex with a 17-year-old Epstein's trafficking victim. After filing a civil complaint accusing him of first-degree rape, Virginia Giuffre's remarkable story of being flown to London for intercourse with Queen Elizabeth II's favorite son is now about to be heard in a courtroom.
Today, September 13, a pre-trial hearing for Virginia Roberts Giuffre's sex assault civil complaint against Prince Andrew will be held in a US court, as per UNILAD. Giuffre filed the complaint in August under the New York Child Victims Act, saying that she was trafficked to meet with Prince Andrew three times while she was just 17 years old by Jeffery Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Although Prince Andrew has vehemently rejected all of the allegations and has refused to help with US prosecutors investigating Epstein and Maxwell's crimes, the case's pre-trial hearing takes place in New York today.
According to one of Giuffre's lawyers, despite recently escaping to Balmoral, the Duke of York was allegedly served with court documents on the sexual assault complaint. Sky News reports lawyers are claimed to have given the documents to a Metropolitan Police officer stationed outside the gates of Prince Andrew's home.
Virginia Roberts' father has words for Prince Andrew
Virginia Roberts' father has demanded that Prince Andrew be imprisoned, claiming that it is no longer the period of William Wallace when the Royals could do whatever they wanted. It comes as the Duke prepares to avoid a hearing in his sex assault civil case today by not having any lawyers present.
Sky Roberts has expressed his desire for Prince Andrew to be imprisoned, stating that he needs to experience what it's like to be held accountable. Roberts, 38, is one of the most well-known Jeffrey Epstein victims, alleging that the prince assaulted her three times when she was under the age of 18.
Prince Andrew has stated that he does not remember meeting Roberts, who also goes by the married name Giuffre. The duke's lawyer, Gary Bloxsome, argued that the proper protocol was not followed and that the documents should have been served by a British court officer.
Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Manhattan federal court will question Giuffre's legal team about their efforts to serve Prince Andrew with the papers. Her legal team, led by David Boies, has added Andrew Vallacastin and rising star Sabina Mariella to its ranks.
The matter currently has four attorneys working on it, but Prince Andrew has yet to assign only one argument to it. When Sky initially met Epstein, he thought he was a "regular guy," but he later regretted taking Virginia to his house, The Sun reported.
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