Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
If he knew she was, then yes, of course, justice should be served 
However, Giuffre was 17, and per sworn testimony (given by her then-15 year old friend, Carolyn, a girl whom Guiffre introduced to Maxwell) her attitude about it was described as "not bothered at all", "thought it was pretty cool", and "I got to sleep with him". Keep in mind, this was Guiffre's own witness, not a hostile one, and Carolyn's case is also the single count of trafficking (to Epstein) that Maxwell was convicted on in 2022.
"The age of consent in the UK is 16 years old, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. However, if the sexual relationship involves an adult who is in a "position of trust" (such as a teacher, social worker, or doctor), the minimum age rises to 18—it is illegal for such adults to have sex with a child in their care"
If nothing else, this should provide an illustration for why some prosecutions that seem so simple and obvious upon first glance, are actually not, when it comes to a court of criminal law. If it's not possible to prove Andrew knew VG was a trafficking victim (OR that he paid for the sex, knowing she was only 17), there's no basis to convict. Note: in THIS PARTICULAR case.
VG did (reportedly) coax a tidy of money from him in an out-of-court settlement (estimated as being single-digit millions), though, so that's good.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
5 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read