Andrew faces more scrutiny over ties with Jeffrey Epstein as judge orders evidence from 'grope' accuser can be released
20 December 2023, 06:16
Prince Andrew's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein will again come under scrutiny as a judge ordered the release of evidence given by a woman who claims the duke touched her breast.
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Some 40 documents of evidence from Johanna Sjoberg, who claims Andrew touched her as they sat on a sofa at Epstein's New York apartment in 2001, will be made public.
US judge Loretta Preska ruled they should be released along with hundreds of other files relating to more than 170 people who were associates, friends or victims of the billionaire American paedophile.
Buckingham Palace has previously described the allegations against Andrew as "categorically untrue".
The documents are part of a defamation case brought by Virginia Giuffre against Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite who provided underage girls for Epstein.
She went on to settle her civil claim against Maxwell but journalists have argued the documents, which were sealed, should be made public.
"Finally we are hearing members of the US government senators about the need for transparency and a call to arms for accountability!!" Ms Giuffre said on X.
"There's going to be a lot of nervous ppl over Christmas and New Years, 170 to be exact, who's on the naughty list? This (would not) be possible without the Honourable Judge Preska."
The judge ruled some people could be named because they had given interviews to the media, like Ms Sjoberg.
Those named in the documents will get 14 days to appeal against their release, so they are set to come out in January.
Andrew's friendship with Epstein led to controversy that forced him to step back from being a working royal as he lost his HRH style and his honorary military roles.
He ended up having to pay millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Ms Giuffre, who he claimed he never met and whose accusations he has vehemently denied.
Epstein, a financier, was ruled to have taken his own life after being found dead in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 as he awaited sex trafficking charges.
Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years behind bars but is appealing her sentence. That hearing is due to go ahead in November 2024.
