Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Virginia Giuffre is suing Prince Andrew of Britain for alleged sexual abuse. She accused him of humiliating her in front of the media with “baseless and defamatory attacks against her.”

Giuffre made this charge during a Monday evening court filing in opposition to Andrew’s motion dismissing her civil lawsuit stemming form their ties with the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

On Tuesday, Andrew lawyers did not respond to our requests for comment.

Giuffre (38) sued Andrew in August for unspecified damages. She claimed Andrew forced Giuffre to have sex in London at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell and that he abused Giuffre at Epstein’s Manhattan and U.S Virgin Islands homes.

Andrew (61), Queen Elizabeth’s second-born son has “unambiguously” refuted Giuffres claims and charged her with seeking “another paycheck” from Epstein’s association. She also claimed that Epstein abused Giuffre.

Giuffre, however, filed a U.S. District Court filing in Manhattan describing Andrew’s motion as a bid “blame and shame” on her and claiming that her 2009 and 2020 settlements were not sufficient to protect the prince.

Giuffre lawyers stated that “Defendant’s motion was designed to be, was extensively used for, a press release attacking Ms. Giuffre within the media.”

They said that defendant had made defamatory and baseless accusations against Ms. Giuffre as part of his motion, “only because filing it in court protected him from any possible libel suits.”

Giuffre stated that Andrew also argued without legal authority that a New York 2019 law that gave her two years to sue for childhood sexual abuse committed decades before was a violation of the state constitution.

Andrew’s lawyers will argue against the dismissal Giuffre’s case at an January 4, 2022 hearing before U.S. Circuit Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan.

If the case cannot be settled, or dismissed, the judge says that trial may begin in early 2022. Andrew was not charged with any crime.

Epstein, who was awaiting his trial for sex-trafficking charges in Manhattan in August 2019, committed suicide inside a Manhattan jail.

Ghislaine maxwell has pleaded no guilty to U.S. federal criminal charges. She helped Epstein abuse and recruit four teenage girls. The trial began Monday in Manhattan and could last for six weeks.