Prince Andrew ‘deliberately evading’ US authorities, lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein victims says

Prince Andrew’s friend Ghislaine Maxwell was charged with a number of sex offences on Thursday

Prince Andrew is “deliberately evading authorities”, the lawyer for dozens of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims has said, as pressure grows on the Duke of York to make himself available to detectives for interview.

Brad Edwards, who represents 55 women who claim they were abused by the disgraced financier, says he believes Andrew has information that could help US law enforcement with its investigation.

In an interview with Sky News, Mr Edwards said he had contacted the prince “at least three times” but the 60-year-old had refused to share “what he knows”. Representatives for Andrew have previously denied claims that he has not made himself available to the FBI for interview.

British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has now been charged with several offences in relation to the investigation into convicted paedophile Epstein.

Ms Maxwell, an associate of Epstein and a friend of the prince, was charged with a number of counts of sex exploitation and abuse of underage girls.

Prosecutors allege that one of her victims was as young as 14. The net closed on Maxwell just days before the anniversary of Epstein’s arrest last year on a litany of sex-trafficking charges.

Epstein was found hanging in his Manhattan prison cell while awaiting trial. The New York medical examiner later ruled the death as a suicide.

After months on the run, Maxwell was found hiding out in a New Hampshire property “living a life of privilege”. She later appeared in court via video link.

Andrew has come under increasing pressure to give a statement to the FBI after a difficult interview with the BBC last year.

A second lawyer representing several of Epstein’s accusers has said that the duke’s silence on the investigation amounted to a “torture test” for the victims.

Gloria Allred also alleges that the prince has been evading US detectives.

“The question is, Prince Andrew, when is he going to tell what he knows? He needs to do that. He needs to do it without delay,” she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

“It is so traumatising and difficult for the victims not to know the truth. And this kind of torture test that Prince Andrew is subjecting the victims to, like will he or won’t he give a statement, if he will, when?

“More excuses, more delays, it really is painful for many of the victims. It’s just not fair.”