Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein, walks after the hearing in the criminal case against Epstein at Federal Court in New York, US, on August 27, 2019.
Britain's Prince Andrew has been sued for having allegedly on three occasions sexually abused a woman who has claimed she was trafficked for sex by the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In a civil complaint filed in the US District Court in Manhattan on Monday, Virginia Giuffre accused Andrew of having abused her about two decades ago, when she was under 18 years old.
According to the complaint, Giuffre said Andrew abused her at the London home of Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
Spokespeople for the prince could not immediately be reached for comment outside business hours.
Andrew told the BBC in November 2019 he had no recollection of meeting Giuffre, and could not have abused her at Maxwell's home because he had returned that night to his house after a children's party.
The complaint said Andrew also abused Giuffre at Epstein's mansion on Manhattan's Upper East Side, and on a private island that Epstein owned in the US Virgin Islands.
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Punitive damages
Giuffre has said Epstein kept her as a "sex slave" with help from Maxwell, telling BBC's "Panorama" that Epstein brought her to London to meet Andrew.
Her complaint, signed by her lawyer David Boies, accused Andrew of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Giuffre sued Andrew under the Child Victims Act, a New York state law.
READ MORE: Epstein accusers detail sexual abuse in emotional court hearing
'It is possible not to live in silence'
"I am holding Prince Andrew accountable for what he did to me," Giuffre said in a statement.
"The powerful and rich are not exempt from being held responsible for their actions. I hope that other victims will see that it is possible not to live in silence and fear, but to reclaim one's life by speaking out and demanding justice."
Lawyers for Maxwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Maxwell is not a defendant in the lawsuit.
Epstein, 66, killed himself in a Manhattan jail on August 10, 2019, while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. A fund to compensate victims of Epstein's sexual abuses has completed the payout process, giving more than $121 million to about 138 people, the fund's administrator said on Monday.
Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to engaging in sex trafficking and grooming underage girls for Epstein to abuse. Her trial in Manhattan could begin in November.
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