Prince Andrew ‘was at Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion when girl, 17, was raped by the billionaire,’ lawsuit claims
PRINCE Andrew was at Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion when the billionaire pedophile raped a 17-year-old girl, a new bombshell lawsuit claims.
Caroline Kaufman, now 26, has accused Epstein of raping her during a “modeling interview” in late 2010 after being “recruited” at a horse show aged 16, the lawsuit exclusively obtained by The Sun, states.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Caroline told how the alleged assault left her “suicidal” and “living in darkness”.
It comes as Epstein’s alleged pimp Ghislaine Maxwell – who Caroline accuses in the lawsuit of taking pictures of her naked – was arrested in New Hampshire.
She was indicted on a string of horrific crimes and accused of procuring girls for Epstein, as well as taking part in some of the abuse herself.
Then, during an extraordinary press conference, acting Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss urged Prince Andrew to come forward for interview, saying: “We would welcome Prince Andrew coming in to talk to us, we would like to have the benefit of his statement.”
And in the separate suit, filed today, Caroline says she met one of Epstein’s “close associates”, at a horse show in Lake Placid, New York, in early 2010, who told her that “her ‘boss’ could help Kaufman get into the modelling industry”.
Some months later, in around December, after repeated calls from the woman, a family friend drove Caroline from her home in Connecticut to Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, the suit, filed against Epstein’s estate at the US District Court -Southern District of New York on Thursday, reads.
Once at the mansion, Caroline says she was introduced to several people including Prince Andrew, the court documents say. She does not accuse Andrew of any wrongdoing or being aware of the attack.
The Duke was famously pictured walking through Central Park with the convicted pedophile around the same time, while the ‘associate’ was pictured leaving Epstein’s mansion in 2016.
During the same visit, Caroline alleges in the suit that she was taken to a private area and told to undress for an older woman – who she believes to be Maxwell – who took pictures of her. Maxwell has always denied involvement in Epstein’s sex crimes.
She was then escorted back into a massage room, where Epstein was nude on a massage table, according to the documents.
“Epstein got up off the table, grabbed Kaufman and threw her against the massage table,” the suit reads.
“During this encounter, Epstein vaginally and anally raped Kaufman, while saying ‘I know you love it’.
“Kaufman was screaming for help during this encounter, but no one came to her rescue.
“Upon finishing, Epstein left the room … and [Kaufman} started hyperventilating. She then exited the massage room.
“Upon exiting the massage room, an associate handed Kaufman $500 cash and said ‘Mr. Epstein is a very powerful man and he knows presidents. If you say anything he will kill you and your family.”
The lawsuit claims that Caroline has suffered “extreme distress, humiliation, fear, psychological trauma, loss of dignity and self esteem and invasion of her privacy”.
It adds: “Epstein and his co-conspirators enticed Kaufman to cross state lines, with the full knowledge and intent to sexually exploit Kaufman….
“Epstein intentionally committed sexual misconduct and rape in the first degree by sexually assaulting Plaintiff when she was 17 years old.
“As described above, Epstein, vaginally and anally forced himself upon the intimate parts of Plaintiff’s body in an offensive and sexual manner without her consent.”
Caroline told The Sun: “I’ve had to live in darkness… I’ve been severely suicidal. I cut my arms.
“I was very social and outgoing and then afterwards just very antisocial. I didn’t want to talk to anybody.
“I had dreams of being a supermodel. And also I had dreams of working with the horses and everything.
“I turned 18 and I became a stripper. I was working at a club all the time and not thinking I had any meaning left.
“I didn’t think anyone wanted me for anything besides sex.”
Caroline revealed how her arms are covered in self harming scars – which she says are all a result of what Epstein did to her.
“Afterwards, if you look I have layers and layers of scars that will never go away and I’m stuck with these for life and I’m stuck with the memories, the horrible, horrifying memories of Epstein and Susan. It really changed my life.”
Caroline is represented by Spencer Kuvin, who represents several Epstein victims, along with Laura Posner, Michael Dolce and Takisha Richardson.
Kuvin told The Sun: “On behalf of Caroline we are filing this claim against the estate so that she can receive some type of recovery for what Mr Epstein did to her.
“We’re also going to be sending her claim to the fund and allowing the fund administrator to evaluate her claim as well.
“And hopefully she will receive some type of justice at the end of all this.
“The goal is for all of these women to come forward to be heard and receive a fair and compassionate hearing of their story and just compensation.”
He also hit out at Prince Andrew who has still not given evidence to US prosecutors investigating Epstein’s co-conspirators, who claim he has refused to co-operate. The Duke disputes this and says he has offered to help three times.
“At the end of the day Prince Andrew is yet to step forward with an answer for why he attended events at both Mr Epstein’s mansion in New York, Palm Beach and the Virgin Islands,” Kuvin said.
“He is yet to explain what he was doing there, why he was there, who he was with and the circumstances under why he was attending these events.
“And we know for certain he was at Mr Epstein’s mansion even after Mr Epstein had been convicted in Florida of soliciting under age girls for prostitution because there was photographs of him standing in the doorway. Those photos were taken after the conviction.
“He has failed to answer for his actions.”
Epstein was convicted of child sex crimes in 2008 but only served 13 months as part of a “sweetheart deal” with prosecutors.
He was arrested again in 2019 and charged with a raft of sex trafficking offenses but died in his jail cell in August, in what officials ruled a suicide.
Prince Andrew came under intense scrutiny when he was pictured with Epstein in December 2010 but claimed in a BBC interview that he only went to New York to end his relationship with the financier when the infamous photo was snapped.
The Prince said he wanted to tell Epstein that the pair could no longer remain in contact face to face and only stayed at his Manhattan home because it was “a convenient place to stay”.
Andrew has also been involved in his own sex scandal involving Epstein after being accused of having a sexual encounter with Virginia Guiffre – who claims she was sex trafficked by the billionaire – when she was 17 in London and New York and a year later at a party on Epstein’s private island in the Virgin Islands.
The Prince has strenuously denied all allegations brought against him.
In a statement last year the Palace said: “Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.
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“It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact with Virginia Roberts. Any claim to the contrary is false and without foundation.”
Prince Andrew added: “At no stage during the limited time I spent with [Epstein] did I see, witness or suspect any behavior of the sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction.”
The Sun reached out to Prince Andrew for comment on the latest lawsuit.