Prince Andrew is facing a deadline today to file a response to a lawsuit filed against him in New York by his sex abuse accuser Virginia Roberts, according to the daily mail.
The Duke of York was last month served with court papers by Roberts who claims Andrew sexually abused her on multiple occasions in 2001 when she was 17.
Roberts alleges she was told by notorious financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwellto have sex with Andrew at Epstein’s mansion in New York and other locations. The prince has always denied the allegations.
The clock is ticking for Andrew, who must respond to the claims in her lawsuit by today or he will face a default judgment. There is a further hearing at a court in Manhattan due to be held on November 3.
The prince’s California-based lawyer Andrew Brettler is intending to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, according to a letter filed earlier this week.
During a hearing of the case last month, Brettler said the lawsuit was ‘baseless, non-viable and potentially unlawful’.
Yesterday, Andrew broke cover at Windsor in the UK as a judge backed Brettler’s request for a 2009 settlement agreement between Epstein and Roberts to remain secret.
New York US District Judge Lewis A Kaplan made the ruling on Wednesday in a brief order after Brettler asked that the document remain sealed as the legal team fight to get Roberts’s lawsuit thrown out.
In her lawsuit, Roberts claimed she was trafficked to London as a 17-year-old by Epstein and forced to have sex with the Prince at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house.
She also alleged that Andrew knew she was a victim of sex trafficking by Epstein, and also knew she was a minor under US law.
