In sexual abuse case, victim's lawyer slams Prince Andrew's 'arrogance' for delayed result

After Prince Andrew reached a settlement with Virginia Giuffre over their sexual abuse case, the US attorneys representing the victims claimed the win for survivors. However, one attorney stated that Prince Andrew's "arrogance" stood in the way of a quicker settlement. Last year, Giuffre filed a legal action in New York against the Duke of York, accusing him of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old. The duke always denied having a sexual relationship with Giuffre and promised to clear his name in court.

The prince expressed sadness for his involvement with Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sexual offences. As per the reports of the Guardian, Robert Lewis, a New York-based lawyer for Sarah Ransome who was molested when she was 22 years old and resolved a lawsuit with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell in 2018, said that it's another bright day for the survivors.

They understand the pain and suffering

Lisa Bloom, an attorney for numerous of Epstein's victims said that they understand the pain and suffering that other survivors have endured, and they are happy to see other survivors receive some redress, whether in the form of money or, more importantly, an acknowledgement that their claims are legitimate and that they've been wronged, according to the Guardian. Bloom stated that cases like this bring hope to other victims because ordinary people can rise up and obtain justice. 

She also said that the money from the settlement, which is estimated to be millions of dollars, would go to Guiffre's organisation and help victims who haven't had their stories covered by the media or haven't had a celebrity name linked to them. She further said that she and her clients see this as a major triumph for Virginia.

Prince's earlier behaviour was problematic, says Lewis

Robert Lewis, on the other hand, expressed surprise that the prince had not reached an agreement sooner. Lewis believes the Prince's earlier behaviour was problematic, from his claim of not remembering meeting Giuffre to his dismissal of her charges as baseless, according to the Guardian. He stated that he has noticed that Prince has been avoiding the issue for many years.

Image: AP