Prince Andrew Makes First Public Appearance Since Sex Allegations
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MICHEL EULER/AFP/Getty Images(DAVOS, Switzerland) — Britain’s Prince Andrew made his first public appearance since American Virginia Roberts alleged in court papers that she was forced to have sex with him when she was 17 years old.
Prince Andrew, who has denied the allegations, hosted a reception of business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
“Firstly I think I must for the record refer to the events that have taken place over the last few weeks,” he said at the event. “I wish to reiterate and reaffirm the statements already made on my behalf by Buckingham Palace. My focus is my work.”
A statement from the British royal family earlier this month called the allegations “false and without any foundation.”
Roberts filed a sworn affidavit in federal court on Wednesday adding new details to her claims and vowing “to pursue all reasonable and legitimate means to have criminal charges brought against these powerful people for the crimes they have committed against me and other girls.”
Roberts, now 31, alleges she was kept for four years as an underage sex slave of American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who in turn required her to have sexual relations with Prince Andrew, renowned lawyer Alan Dershowitz and “many other powerful men, including politicians and powerful business executives.”
A spokesman for the royal family declined on Wednesday to respond to Roberts’ new affidavit.
Epstein, an enigmatic financier, was the subject of wide-ranging state and federal investigations beginning in 2005 looking into claims that he had illegal sexual contact with dozens of underage girls at his Palm Beach, Florida mansion and elsewhere. He ultimately entered into an unusual and, at the time, confidential non-prosecution agreement with the federal government that resulted in him pleading guilty to two relatively minor sex crimes in state court. Dershowitz was among a group of prominent attorneys who helped Epstein secure the deal.
Roberts’ affidavit, filed in a federal court in a case seeking to overturn Epstein’s deal, marks the first time Roberts has made a statement under oath. She claims that, at the direction of Epstein, she had sexual relations three times with Prince Andrew — the second son of Queen Elizabeth — “including one orgy” on Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean and six times with the Harvard legal icon Dershowitz in Epstein’s homes in New York, Palm Beach and New Mexico, and aboard one of Epstein’s private jets.
Buckingham Palace, on behalf of the prince, has vigorously denied Roberts’ allegations.
Dershowitz has also strongly denied her allegations.
“Every single word in her affidavit about me is a deliberate and categorical lie. I don’t know her, I was never with her, I never touched her,” Dershowitz told ABC News on Wednesday.
Dershowitz said he wants Roberts to come forward with dates and times on their alleged encounters so he can use his travel records to prove his innocence, he said.
“She picked on the wrong innocent person, because I have the will, the determination and the resources to fight back and prove that what she’s saying is false,” he said.
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