Virginia Giuffre, Key Voice in Jeffrey Epstein Sex-Trafficking Scandal, Dies at 41

 

Virginia Giuffre, Key Voice in Jeffrey Epstein Sex-Trafficking Scandal, Dies at 41

At the age of 41, Virginia Giuffre, a brave survivor who contributed to exposing the murky world of Jeffrey Epstein's sex-trafficking organization, passed away. Giuffre died on Friday at her Western Australian property after courageously speaking out against influential people, including Prince Andrew of Britain.

 

Family Confirms Virginia Giuffre Died by Suicide

Virginia Giuffre committed suicide, her family said in a statement. Giuffre posted on Instagram earlier this year that she was dealing with serious health problems and that she was only a few days away from passing away from renal failure after a tragic vehicle accident involving a school bus that was speeding at about 70 miles per hour.

Her legacy was celebrated by her family, who referred to her as "the light that lifted so many survivors" and "a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking."

 

A Relentless Fighter Against Epstein's Sex-Trafficking Network

Giuffre bravely decided to come out as herself in 2015, telling the British tabloid The Mail about her terrifying experience on Sunday. According to Nigel Cawthorne's 2022 book, "Virginia Giuffre: The Extraordinary Life Story," she described how she was "passed around like a platter of fruit" to influential men and claimed to be "training to be a prostitute for Epstein and his friends who shared his interest in young girls."

Giuffre accused Prince Andrew, also called the Duke of York, of sexually abusing her in Epstein's houses in Manhattan, London, and the Virgin Islands, among other places. The accusations were symbolized by a widely shared image of Prince Andrew with his arm around Giuffre's waist.

 

Legal Battles with Prince Andrew and Seeking Justice

Giuffre accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault in a 2021 lawsuit. The prince ultimately consented to an out-of-court settlement in 2022, despite his denial of the allegations. As part of the settlement, Prince Andrew acknowledged no culpability but praised Giuffre's courage and promised to help combat sex trafficking.

Remembering Virginia Giuffre’s Lasting Impact

The world was made aware of the atrocities of elite sex trafficking networks thanks to Virginia Giuffre's unwavering quest for justice. She altered the way the world saw influential people who are protected by wealth and influence and encouraged many other survivors to speak forward.

For many years to come, her reputation as a courageous survivor of sex trafficking, advocate, and voice for the oppressed will endure.

In interviews and depositions, Ms. Giuffre said she was recruited to the sex ring in 2000 while working as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Fla. By her account, she was reading a massage therapy manual when she was approached by Ms. Maxwell and invited to become Mr. Epstein’s traveling masseuse. She said the two of them then groomed her to perform sexual services for wealthy men.

Virginia Giuffre’s Courageous Legal Battles

Ms. Giuffre sued Ms. Maxwell for defamation in 2015 for calling her a liar; they settled for an undisclosed sum in 2017. Ms. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking and other counts. The verdict was viewed as the legal reckoning that Mr. Epstein had denied the judicial system and his victims by hanging himself. Ms. Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Virginia Louise Roberts was born on Aug. 9, 1983, in Sacramento to Sky and Lynn Roberts. When she was 4, the family moved to Palm Beach County, where her father was a maintenance manager at Mar-a-Lago.

 

Fighting Against Powerful Figures

She said she ran away from home after having been molested by a close family friend since she was 7. She was placed in foster homes; boarded with an aunt in California; fled to the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, the former hippie haven; lived on the streets when she was 14; and spent six months with a 65-year-old sex trafficker, who abused her.

Compared with living on the streets and earning $9 an hour for her summer job at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Epstein’s offer to make $200 a massage several times a day was, Mr. Cawthorne wrote, one that “Virginia had determined for herself she could not refuse.”

But her mandate went well beyond those duties, she told the BBC in 2019. She said that she was “passed around like a platter of fruit” to Mr. Epstein’s friends and ferried around the world on private jets.