Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew in Epstein intercourse trafficking scandal, has died : NPR

Virginia Giuffre, who accused Britain’s Prince Andrew and different influential males of sexually exploiting her as a teen trafficked by financier Jeffrey Epstein, has died. She was 41.

Giuffre died by suicide Friday at her farm in Western Australia, her publicist confirmed.

“Virginia was a fierce warrior within the struggle towards sexual abuse and intercourse trafficking. She was the sunshine that lifted so many survivors,” her household stated in a press release. “Regardless of all of the adversity she confronted in her life, she shone so shiny. She will likely be missed past measure.”

Her publicist Dini von Mueffling described Giuffre as “deeply loving, sensible and humorous.”

“She adored her kids and lots of animals. She was at all times extra involved with me than with herself,” von Mueffling wrote in a press release. “I’ll miss her past phrases. It was the privilege of a lifetime to signify her.”

The American-born Giuffre, who lived in Australia for years, turned an advocate for intercourse trafficking survivors after rising as a central determine in Epstein’s extended downfall.

The rich, well-connected New York cash supervisor killed himself in August 2019 whereas awaiting trial on U.S. federal intercourse trafficking fees involving dozens of teenage ladies and younger girls, some as younger as 14. The costs got here 14 years after police in Palm Seashore, Florida, first started investigating allegations that he sexually abused underage ladies who had been employed to provide him massages.

Giuffre got here ahead publicly after the preliminary investigation resulted in an 18-month Florida jail time period for Epstein, who made a secret deal to keep away from federal prosecution by pleading responsible as an alternative to comparatively minor state-level fees of soliciting prostitution. He was launched in 2009.

In subsequent lawsuits, Giuffre stated she was a teenage spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago — President Donald Trump’s Palm Seashore membership — when she was approached in 2000 by Epstein’s girlfriend and later worker, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Giuffre stated Maxwell employed her as a masseuse for Epstein, however the couple successfully made her a sexual servant, pressuring her into gratifying not solely Epstein however his mates and associates. Giuffre stated she was flown world wide for assignations with males together with Prince Andrew whereas she was 17 and 18.

The lads denied it and assailed Giuffre’s credibility. She acknowledged altering some key particulars of her account, together with the age at which she first met Epstein.

However many elements of her story had been supported by paperwork, witness testimony and pictures — together with one among her and Andrew, together with his his arm round her naked midriff, in Maxwell’s London townhouse.

Giuffre stated in one among her lawsuits that she had intercourse with the royal thrice: in London throughout her 2001 journey, at Epstein’s New York mansion when she was 17 and within the Virgin Islands when she was 18.

“Ghislaine stated, ‘I would like you to do for him what you do for Epstein,'” Giuffre informed NBC Information’ “Dateline” in September 2019.

Andrew categorically rejected Giuffre’s allegations and stated he did not recall having met her.

His denials blew up in his face throughout a November 2019 BBC interview. Viewers noticed a prince who proffered curious rebuttals — equivalent to disputing Giuffre’s recollection of sweaty dancing by saying he was medically incapable of perspiring — and confirmed no empathy for the ladies who stated Epstein abused them.

Inside days of the interview, Andrew stepped down from his royal duties. He settled with Giuffre in 2022 for an undisclosed sum, agreeing to make a “substantial donation” to her survivors’ group. An announcement filed in courtroom stated that the prince acknowledged Epstein was a intercourse trafficker and Giuffre “a longtime sufferer of abuse.”

She additionally filed, and in no less than some instances settled, lawsuits towards Epstein and others linked to him. In a single case, she dropped her claims towards a distinguished U.S. lawyer, saying she might need erred in figuring out him as one of many males to whom Epstein equipped her.

Epstein’s suicide put an finish to his accusers’ hopes of holding him criminally accountable.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on federal intercourse trafficking and conspiracy fees and was sentenced to twenty years in jail. She stated she wasn’t in charge for Epstein’s abuse.

Prosecutors elected to not embrace Giuffre’s allegations within the Maxwell case, however Giuffre later informed the courtroom that the British socialite had “opened the door to hell.”

Giuffre, born Virginia Roberts, informed interviewers that her childhood was shattered when she was sexually abused as a grade-schooler by a person her household knew. She later ran away from dwelling and endured extra abuse, she stated.

She stated she met her now-husband in 2002 whereas taking therapeutic massage coaching in Thailand at Epstein’s behest. She married, moved to Australia and had a household.

Giuffre based an advocacy charity, SOAR, in 2015.

Giuffre was hospitalized after a critical accident, her publicist stated final month. She did not reply questions on the time concerning the date, location, nature or different specifics of the accident and concerning the accuracy of an Instagram submit that appeared to come back from Giuffre. The submit stated she had been in a automobile that was hit by a college bus and her prognosis was dire.

She is survived by her three kids, whom the assertion described because the “mild of her life.”

Sigrid McCawley, an lawyer for Giuffre, stated in a press release, “Her braveness pushed me to struggle tougher, and her energy was awe-inspiring. The world has misplaced a tremendous human being at the moment. Relaxation in peace, my candy angel.”

This story consists of dialogue of suicide. In the event you or somebody you recognize wants assist, the nationwide suicide and disaster lifeline in Australia is offered by calling 13 11 14. Within the U.S., it’s obtainable by calling or texting 988. There may be additionally a web based chat at 988lifeline.org