Virginia Giuffre, the woman who accused the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew of sexual abuse, died by suicide, her family announced Friday.
It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Virginia last night at her farm in Western Australia. She died by suicide after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and human trafficking, according to a statement from her family.
The light of her life was her children, Christian, Noah, and Emily. It was while holding her newborn daughter that Virginia realized she had to fight against those who had abused her and so many others, the statement continued.
Giuffre and Epstein settled a civil suit for $500,000 in 2009.
Virginia Roberts holds a photo of herself at age 16, when she says Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein began sexually abusing her. (Emily Michot/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Giuffre had alleged that Epstein trafficked her to Prince Andrew, who she said preyed on her and sexually abused her when she was under 18.
Prince Andrew repeatedly denied the accusation and attacked Giuffre’s credibility and motives.
Giuffre filed a lawsuit against Prince Andrew in 2021, accusing the royal of sexually abusing her at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion and elsewhere in 2001, when she was under 18, according to the complaint.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attends the traditional Easter Sunday Matins service at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, April 20, 2025, in Windsor, England.
Prince Andrew agreed to settle Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuit in 2022, without admitting wrongdoing.
In 2015, Giuffre also filed a civil lawsuit centering on allegations that Epstein’s former mistress, Ghislaine Maxwell, facilitated the sexual abuse of Giuffre and others.
Hundreds of court documents from that case were unsealed over a four-year period beginning in 2019.
The morning after the first set of documents were unsealed by a federal appeals court in 2019, Epstein hanged himself in his Manhattan jail cell, where he was being held awaiting trial for child sex trafficking and conspiracy. The New York City medical examiner ruled the death a suicide, and a report from the Justice Department’s Inspector General concurred.
Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell attend the De Grisogono Sponsors 2005 Wall Street Concert Series to benefit Wall Street Rising on March 15, 2005 in New York City.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on five of six counts related to the abuse and trafficking of underage girls and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Giuffre was not called as a witness during Maxwell’s trial, and Maxwell has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Maxwell appealed her conviction to the Supreme Court earlier this month, but the Supreme Court has yet to take any action.