Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts plans to sue Prince Andrew in New York, her lawyer says
- Virginia Roberts has accused Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17.
- Roberts met Andrew through Ghislaine Maxwell, who she says groomed her for Epstein.
- Roberts' lawyer told the Mail on Sunday she plans to sue the prince in a New York court.
The Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Roberts plans to sue Prince Andrew for damages in a New York court, her lawyer has told the Mail on Sunday.
Roberts, who said she was coerced to join Jeffrey Epstein's sex ring by the British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, has accused the Duke of York of sexually abusing her in 2001, when she was 17.
In a previous statement to Insider, representatives for Prince Andrew said "categorically" denied "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors."
However, David Boies, an attorney for Roberts - who is now 37 - told the Mail on Sunday that a lawsuit seeking damages was on the way.
The suit "would be based on her being lent out to Prince Andrew for sex by Jeffrey Epstein and [her] being under 18," he told the newspaper, and include claims of "improper sexual violations, physical and emotional distress."
"To use a common phrase here in the US, 'Time's up,'" Boies told the Mail on Sunday.
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Roberts previously sued Maxwell in 2015, after Maxwell called Roberts a liar for alleging that she was made to have sex with Prince Andrew. Maxwell later settled the case.
"This is not some sordid sex story. This is a story of being trafficked. This is a story of abuse," Roberts told the BBC's "Panorama" program in December 2019.
Maxwell was arrested by US law enforcement in July 2020 and was subsequently charged with crimes related to trafficking minors for Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Maxwell is currently detained at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center and has been denied bail several times. Her trial is scheduled to start in November. She has pleaded not guilty.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 but died by suicide in jail that August while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking and conspiracy charges.