Virginia Giuffre, prominent Jeffrey Epstein accuser, dies by suicide: ‘Toll of abuse is so heavy…’

Virginia Giuffre, who accused financier Jeffrey Epstein and Britain’s Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, reportedly died by suicide at home in Western Australi. The report of her death came weeks after she was hospitalised following a car crash.

"Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre takes own life in Australia," news agency AFP reported while citing family statement. Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, was 41.

"It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia," the family said in statement provided to AFP by her agent. “She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,” the statement added.

"There are no words that can express the grave loss we feel today with the passing of our sweet Virginia," Giuffre's family said, remembering her "incredible courage and loving spirit".

“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight. We know that she is with the angels,” the family added.

‘Sex slave’

She had accused Epstein of using her as a sex slave, and said she had sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 — a minor under US law — after meeting him through the American billionaire.

Giuffre had lodged a complaint against Prince Andrew in New York, saying she was forced into having sex with him when she was 17 and a minor. The British police re-examined the accusations but later said they will take no further action.

Andrew denied claims that he had sex with Giuffre, who alleged she was trafficked as a teenager.

Prince Andrew settles

On January 12, 2022, US prosecutors refused to dismiss a sexual assault lawsuit brought by Giuffre against Prince Andrew.

He was stripped the next day of his military titles.

In February 2022, the prince settled the lawsuit for an unspecified sum, according to a court filing. The British press estimated the sum at more than 12 million pounds ($14.6 million).

As part of the agreement, the British royal was supposed to make a "substantial donation" to a charity established by Giuffre that supports sex trafficking victims.

Later in March, the New York lawsuit was dropped.

Epstein arrested

On July 6, 2019, Epstein, a hedge fund manager with an entourage of celebrity friends, was arrested upon return to the United States from France in a private jet and later charged with sex trafficking minors.

He faced up to 45 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors said Epstein — who had previously been convicted in Florida of paying young girls for massages — sexually exploited dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida between 2002 and 2005.

Epstein suicide

In 2019, Epstein took his own life, while awaiting his own trial for sex crimes. Epstein, who had pleaded not guilty, had hanged himself at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center. He was 66.

Two prison guards were charged with failing to monitor him properly. But his death fueled conspiracy theories that he was murdered.

Prince Andrew was Epstein's friend. In November 2019, Britain's Prince Andrew gave a "disastrous" interview to the BBC in which he defended his ties to the disgraced financier.

Three days after the interview, Queen Elizabeth II's second son steped back from royal duties.

(With inputs from AFP)