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Prince Andrew sex allegations: Father of teenage 'sex slave' wants prosecution if claims are true

Buckingham Palace: 'The allegations made are false and without any foundation'

Zachary Davies Boren
Monday 05 January 2015 12:35 GMT
The Duke of York, Prince Andrew. Buckingham Palace says any suggestion of impropriety with minors 'is categorically untrue'
The Duke of York, Prince Andrew. Buckingham Palace says any suggestion of impropriety with minors 'is categorically untrue' (PA)

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Prince Andrew should be prosecuted if allegations that he had sex with underage "sex slave" Virginia Roberts are true, her father has said.

American rancher Sky Robert, 58, said in a statement to MailOnline: "Any person whether it is a Prince or a pauper, if anybody has sex with a minor, they should be prosecuted."

Buckingham Palace has twice denied that The Duke of York had "any form of sexual contact" with Virginia Roberts since he was named in a US legal action - but not as a party to the action - related to an alleged sex trafficking ring for the rich and powerful run by his billionaire friend Jeffrey Epstein.

In the court documents, Roberts - referred to as "Jane Doe 3" - states she was forced by convicted sex offender Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew on three occasions when she was under the US age of consent.

She claims to have been used as Epstein's teenage "sex slave" from 1999 to 2002, being passed around "politically connected and financially powerful people" to help Epstein ingratiate himself for “business, personal, political and financial gain as well as to obtain potential blackmail information”.

The Duke of York has returned to the UK from a skiing holiday in Switzerland to help manage the scandal enveloping the Palace, with some reports claiming she was introduced to the Queen.

Other individuals named in the US legal action have hit out at accusations, referring to them as "made up stories" and advising the Duke to do everything in his power to clear his name.

Professor Dershowitz, who represented Epstein in his 2008 'solicitation of a minor' case and was named in the court papers, told BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "My only feeling is, if she's lied about me, which I know to an absolute certainty she has, she should not be believed about anyone else.

"We know she's lied about other public figures including a former prime minister and others who she claims to have participated in sexual activities with, so I think it must be presumed all her allegations against Prince Andrew were false as well."

But in a statement released through her lawyers, Roberts said: "These types of aggressive attacks on me are exactly the reason why sexual abuse victims typically remain silent and the reason why I did for a long time. That trend should change.

"I'm not going to be bullied back into silence."

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