One of the first women to accuse Jeffrey Epstein of sexual assault has said the arrest of the man formerly known as Prince Andrew proves that “power can be toppled”. Maria Farmer, 56, told The Independent she was “elated” by the news that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Farmer, who was assaulted by Epstein when she was 20, said the arrest was a victory for Virginia Giuffre, the prominent Epstein victim who claimed the financier forced her to have sex with Mountbatten-Windsor when she was 17. “This was Virginia’s fight,” Farmer said. “It feels like this is all her.” Mountbatten-Windsor has denied the allegations and settled a civil lawsuit brought by Giuffre in 2022.
The arrest follows the release of a new tranche of emails from the Epstein files by the US Justice Department. Thames Valley Police said they were reviewing allegations that Mountbatten-Windsor had shared sensitive information with Epstein while serving as the UK’s trade envoy. The precise details of the arrest have not been disclosed.
Other Epstein victims also welcomed the news. Marijke Chartouni, who was assaulted by Epstein in 2000, said the arrest sends a message that “there can be consequences”. Danielle Bensky, who was recruited into Epstein’s world at 17, described it as “a glimmer of light in a really dark place”. However, she noted that no other arrests have been made in the US since Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction in 2021.
Attorney David Boies, who represented Giuffre, compared the arrest to the 1931 indictment of Al Capone for tax evasion. “There’s a certain satisfaction and sense of justice, but it also reflects the failure of the justice system to bring him and others to account for their most important crimes,” he said. Boies added that it would be “an imperfect resolution if it stops here”.
