section_path: Legal issues/Civil cases/Virginia Giuffre v. Epstein (2015)
section_name: Virginia Giuffre v. Epstein (2015)
paragraph_text: Virginia Giuffre v. Epstein (2015)
  
  In a December 2014 Florida court filing by Bradley Edwards and Paul G. Cassell meant for inclusion in the Crime Victims Rights Act lawsuit, Virginia Giuffre (then known as Virginia Roberts), alleged in a sworn affidavit that at age 17, she had been sexually trafficked by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for their own use and for use by several others, including Prince Andrew and retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz. Giuffre also claimed that Epstein, Maxwell and others had physically and sexually abused her. She alleged that the FBI may have been involved in a cover-up. She said she had served as Epstein's sex slave from 1999 to 2002, and had recruited other underage girls. Prince Andrew, Epstein, and Dershowitz all denied having had sex with Giuffre. Dershowitz took legal action over the allegations.
  
  Giuffre filed a defamation suit against Dershowitz, claiming he purposefully made "false and malicious defamatory statements" about her. A diary purported to belong to Giuffre was published online. Epstein entered an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre, as he had done in several other lawsuits. In 2019, Giuffre was interviewed by the BBC 's Panorama where she continued to attest that Epstein had trafficked her to Prince Andrew. She appealed directly to the public by stating: "I implore the people in the UK to stand up beside me, to help me fight this fight, to not accept this as being okay." These accusations had not been tested in any court of law.
  
  In a December 2014 Florida court filing by Bradley Edwards and Paul G. Cassell meant for inclusion in the Crime Victims Rights Act lawsuit, Virginia Giuffre (then known as Virginia Roberts), alleged in a sworn affidavit that at age 17, she had been sexually trafficked by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell for their own use and for use by several others, including Prince Andrew and retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz. Giuffre also claimed that Epstein, Maxwell and others had physically and sexually abused her. She alleged that the FBI may have been involved in a cover-up. She said she had served as Epstein's sex slave from 1999 to 2002, and had recruited other underage girls. Prince Andrew, Epstein, and Dershowitz all denied having had sex with Giuffre. Dershowitz took legal action over the allegations.
  
  Giuffre filed a defamation suit against Dershowitz, claiming he purposefully made "false and malicious defamatory statements" about her. A diary purported to belong to Giuffre was published online. Epstein entered an out-of-court settlement with Giuffre, as he had done in several other lawsuits. In 2019, Giuffre was interviewed by the BBC 's Panorama where she continued to attest that Epstein had trafficked her to Prince Andrew. She appealed directly to the public by stating: "I implore the people in the UK to stand up beside me, to help me fight this fight, to not accept this as being okay." These accusations had not been tested in any court of law.