A sex scandal involving underaged girls, a shady Palm Beach billionaire, and a member of the Royal family has suddenly turned into a battle of the Super Lawyers.
In the last week, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has seen his name mixed up in international headlines dealing with the alleged sex scandal which involves Prince Andrew, and disgraced Palm Beach financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The scandal has been circulating the news for a while, but was brought to light via a lawsuit filed in December by one of the victims, a former Royal Palm Beach High School student named Virginia Roberts, who says she was sold as a sex slave to Epstein, and "loaned" out to international billionaires, Prince Andrew, and an unnamed Prime Minister when she was just 15.
According to the lawsuit, Epstein also allegedly loaned the then-underaged girl out to Dershowitz. In response, the law professor filed a motion to fight the claims. And now, a report says the attorneys that represent Roberts have fired back, filing a lawsuit against Dershowitz for character assassination.
Gossip Extra reports that the suit filed on Tuesday in Miami Beach says that Fort Lauderdale lawyer Brad Edwards and Utah law professor Paul Cassell, had been bad-mouthed in several media outlets by Dershowitz.
Dershowitz has been tirelessly trying to defend himself over the accusations leveled in the Virginia Roberts-Jeffrey Epstein-Prince Andrew story. Dershowitz went so far as to file his own motion over the "outrageous and impertinent allegations."
Dershowitz's motion, filed in federal court, says that the allegations that he was involved with the scandal are "ginned up" for media attention. He also says that Edwards and Cassell should be disbarred for lying about him in their filing.
"[Virginia Roberts] has alleged that she had sex with me on Mr. Epstein's Carribean island," part of Dershowitz's filing reads. "That is a deliberate lie. I was on that island only once in my life, for approximately one day. I was with my wife and daughter during the entire day. My wife, daughter and I slept overnight in the same room."
West Palm Beach attorney, Jack Scarola, who is representing Edwards and Cassell, says that it's Dersowitz who is the liar and that he'll be able to prove it in court.
According to the lawsuit, Epstein began loaning Roberts out to powerful men between 1999 and 2002, including Prince Andrew. The lawsuit claims Prince Andrew had sex with Roberts when she was 17 in London, New York, and the Virgin Islands.
The lawsuit also says she was loaned to Dershowitz, who then helped Epstein put together his defense. Epstein himself was eventually sentenced to 18 months in prison for soliciting sex with an underaged girl in 2008.
"In addition to being a participant in the abuse of [Roberts] and other minors, Deshowitz was an eye-witness to the sexual abuse of many other minors by Epstein and several of Epstein's co-conspirators," part of the lawsuit reads. "Dershowitz would later play a significant role in negotiating the NPA on Epstein's behalf."
The lawsuit goes on to say that Dershowitz was able to craft a n agreement that would provide Epstein, and "any potential co-conspirators of Epstein" with immunity from federal prosecution in Florida. Dershowitz, the lawsuit claims, added himself to the list of those who would receive immunity for sexually abusing Roberts.
The lawsuit also claims that Dershowitz tried to keep that immunity provision a secret from Epstein's underaged victims, as well as the general public, though doing so violated the Crime Victims' Rights Act.
In addition to the lawsuit, Edwards and Cassell have been talking to the British press. It's through those interviews that Dershowitz says the two lawyers are lying.
"These lawyers have now repeatedly spoken to the media about their false allegations against me, asserting that what they alleged against me had a 'factual' basis and providing the BBC with a list of questions they should ask me," Dershowitz's filing reads. "I answered all of their questions. These lawyers have studiously tried to avoid repeating the specific false charges publically, in an attempt to shield themselves from a defamation claim."
Dershowitz concludes his filing by saying that he categorically and "without reservation and with full awareness of the risks of perjury," never had any sexual contact "of any kind" with Roberts.
Now, Edwards and Cassell are fighting back, saying Dershowitz is slandering their names himself in the media.
This is all probably about to get real crazy real quick. So, stay tuned, America.
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