麻豆传媒

Skip to main content

Epstein accuser drops claim against attorney Alan Dershowitz

Attorney Alan Dershowitz leaves federal court, in New York, Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Attorney Alan Dershowitz leaves federal court, in New York, Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Share
NEW YORK -

A woman who recently settled a lawsuit in which she had claimed to have been sexually trafficked to Britain's Prince Andrew and others by the financier Jeffrey Epstein has dropped a similar claim against noted American attorney Alan Dershowitz, saying she may have erred in accusing him.

Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against the prominent lawyer was withdrawn Tuesday, court records in New York show. She and Dershowitz issued a joint statement saying the resolution of the lawsuit did not involve the payment of money or anything else.

In a statement, Giuffre said she had 鈥渓ong believed that I was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein to Alan Dershowitz. However, I was very young at the time, it was a very stressful and traumatic environment, and Mr. Dershowitz has from the beginning consistently denied these allegations.

鈥淚 now recognize I may have made a mistake in identifying Mr. Dershowitz. This litigation has been very stressful and burdensome for me and my family, and we believe it is time to bring it to an end and move on with our lives,鈥 she said.

Dershowitz said he was gratified that the claims were withdrawn and Giuffre has admitted she may have made a mistake.

鈥淎s I have said from the beginning, I never had sex with Ms. Giuffre. I have nevertheless come to believe that at the time she accused me she believed what she said,鈥 said Dershowitz, a retired Harvard University law professor.

He added: 鈥淢s. Giuffre is to be commended for her courage in now stating publicly that she may have been mistaken about me. She has suffered much at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, and I commend her work combatting the evil of sex trafficking.鈥

The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of sex crimes unless they give their consent.

Giuffre had filed a defamation lawsuit against Dershowitz after accusing a number of prominent men, including Andrew, of sexually exploiting her when she was 17 and 18 years old.

She had said in court filings that Epstein made her his teenage 鈥渓ove slave鈥 and forced her to have sex with Dershowitz a half-dozen times in Florida, New York, New Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. She said Dershowitz also witnessed Epstein abusing other girls.

Dershowitz has consistently denied any sexual contact with Giuffre, saying he had never met her. He told The Associated Press three years ago that his documents contradicted Giuffre's claims as to his whereabouts. He said Giuffre's story had evolved over time and that she initially didn't implicate him in her sex trafficking account.

In court papers in 2019, Dershowitz said Giuffre's claims had led him to suffer severe emotional distress, including 鈥渃ardiac conditions.鈥

Prince Andrew's lawyer did not immediately comment on the news of Giuffre's settlement with Dershowitz.

In February, it was announced that Giuffre's lawsuit against Andrew was settled. The deal called for the prince to make a substantial donation to Giuffre's charity.

In a statement, the prince said he 鈥渉as never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre's character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks.鈥

Andrew acknowledged that Epstein trafficked 鈥渃ountless young girls鈥 over many years and said the prince 鈥渞egrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.鈥

She had alleged she had sex with Andrew three times: in London during a 2001 trip, at Epstein's New York mansion when she was 17 and in the Virgin Islands when she was 18.

Andrew repeatedly denied Giuffre's allegations and has said he can't recall ever meeting her, although a photograph of Giuffre and Andrew together in a London townhouse, his arm around her bare midriff, was included in Giuffre's lawsuit against him.

Epstein killed himself in August 2019 in a federal Manhattan jail as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges.

His former girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, 60, is serving a 20-year prison sentence in a Florida federal jail following her conviction last December for helping Epstein sexually abuse underage girls.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

W5 INVESTIGATES

W5 INVESTIGATES Jungle crackdown: Shutting down a treacherous narco migrant pipeline

This week, Avery Haines follows migrants' harrowing journeys across the Darien Gap. Strict new rules to stem the flood of migrants through the notorious stretch of dense jungle appear to be working, but advocates fear it could backfire.

A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.

British Columbia saw a rare unanimous vote in its legislature in October 2019, when members passed a law adopting the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, setting out standards including free, prior and informed consent for actions affecting them.

Local Spotlight

A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.

When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.

A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.

Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.

Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.

A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.

An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.

An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.