Affidavit alleges Prince Andrew, Alan Dershowitz and Ghislaine Maxwell directed underage sex with Jeffrey Epstein victim

Even from jail, Jeffrey Epstein manipulated the system | Miami Herald Page 8 of 17 Case 1:19-cv-03377 Document 1-1 Filed 04/16/19 Page 9 of 18 In the affidavit, Roberts claimed that Epstein and Maxwell directed her to have sex with Andrew and Dershowitz and others. She had sex with Andrew three times, she alleged — once in London, when she was 17, again in New York, when she was 17, and a third time, as part of an orgy on Epstein’s island, when she was 18. By law, at 17, she would have been above the age of consent in New York and England, but not in Florida, where the age of consent is 18. As part of the affidavit, Roberts furnished a photograph of her with the prince and Maxwell, which she said was taken in London. Dershowitz, who was part of Epstein’s criminal defense team, was often a guest at Epstein’s homes, she said. “Thad sexual intercourse with Dershowitz at least six times,” Roberts wrote in the 2015 court affidavit. “The first time was when I was about 16, early on in my servitude to Epstein and it continued until I was 19.” She detailed some of those alleged trysts, which she said happened at Epstein’s homes in Palm Beach, New Mexico and on Epstein’s island. One of Epstein’s housemen, Juan Alessi, testified in a 2009 sworn deposition that Dershowitz visited Epstein’s Palm Beach home four or five times a year. He said that Roberts was a frequent visitor as well, but he never placed Dershowitz and Roberts at the house at the same time. Alessi, who testified he worked for Epstein from 1999 to 2002, said there were often young girls who gave massages at the house, even in the middle of the night. But he said he never checked their ages, and only knew one girl for certain who was underage, because he had picked her up from high school. That girl, who is now an actress, was not one of Epstein’s masseuses, Alessi said. He also said he was Maxwell’s driver, and he recalls waiting outside of Mar-a-Lago the day Maxwell met Roberts. He testified he saw Maxwell talking to Roberts and recalls Roberts coming to Epstein’s mansion later that day. One of Alessi’s jobs was to drive Maxwell to various spas in Palm Beach where she left business cards in order to “recruit” more masseuses, he said in the sworn deposition. Dershowitz, Prince Andrew and Maxwell have long denied Roberts’ allegations. In an interview with the Herald, Dershowitz reiterated that he had never met Roberts, and never saw Epstein with any underage girls. “The story was 100 percent flatly categorically made-up,” he said, adding that Roberts and her attorneys fabricated the assertion in order to get money from other powerful, wealthy people she alleges she had sex with. “The only possible reason to accuse me in public and [them] in private is so she could get money,” Dershowitz said. Edwards and his co-counsel in the Crime Victims’ lawsuit, University of Utah law professor Paul Cassell, sued Dershowitz for defamation and Dershowitz countersued in 2015. The case was settled out of court, with Dershowitz saying he had been vindicated. Dershowitz said he received a massage at Epstein’s Palm Beach home only once — but that it was just a regular, therapeutic massage by a masseuse — not by Roberts or anyone underage. Dershowitz’s wife was there at Epstein’s house at the time, Dershowitz said in the deposition taken for the case in 2015. “I never had any knowledge of Jeffrey Epstein having any contact with any underage women — ever,” Dershowitz told the Herald. Edwards and Cassell admitted making a “tactical mistake” in filing the accusations against Dershowitz as part of a lawsuit not involving him. But they emphasized that the settlement had no bearing on the veracity of Roberts’ allegations. The judge for the Crime Victims’ Rights Act lawsuit agreed that the affidavit was misplaced in that case, and it was dropped. Prince Andrew’s spokesman at Buckingham Palace did not respond to an email requesting comment. Roberts, now 35, said it has taken her a long time to stand up to Epstein. She and 20 other victims received settlements from Epstein, ranging from $50,000 to more than $1 million. The exact amounts have been kept confidential. “Tt takes so long until you are able to speak about it. It took me having a daughter and looking at this young, beautiful innocent baby to say I want to speak out about it now. I’m hoping that this will bring out more girls so that they say, Me Too.” The state court hearing The judge at Epstein’s sentencing hearing at the Palm Beach County Courthouse knew very little about Epstein’s crimes. The sentencing paperwork was restricted to Epstein’s specific charges: one count of solicitation of prostitution and one count of procuring a person under the age of 18 for prostitution. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article2 19494920 html 4/3/2019 HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017971