Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Read more
Surrey Police say they are seeking information on an allegation of child abuse in the latest batch of released Epstein files which names Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
The US Department of Justice made over 11,000 files available for download on its website last week, consisting of over 30,000 pages relating to investigations into convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.
Among the tranches of paperwork is a file with statement from a 35-year-old who claim they were drugged and driven by their father to “pedophile abuse ring parties” in Surrey when they were aged between six and eight-years-old.
The statement from the alleged victim to the FBI claims the incident took place during the mid-1990s. They claim they were taken to Frogmore Cottage where they said they were restrained on a table and “tortured with electrical shocks” by Maxwell, while surrounded by watching men.
“I remember seeing Prince Andrew’s face,” the person claimed in their statement, which has the complainant’s name redacted.
In a statement, Surrey Police said it could find no evidence of the allegations in the file. The force said: “Following a review of our systems using the limited information available to us, we can find no evidence of these allegations being reported to Surrey Police. We are therefore engaging with relevant agencies to obtain access to the redacted information.
“We take all reports of child abuse seriously and encourage anyone with information in relation to these allegations to report this to us online, or via 101.”
Andrew, who has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein or Maxwell, has been contacted for comment.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was stripped of his titles after numerous controversies (PA Wire)
Earlier this week, it also emerged in the latest release of Epstein files that the FBI sought to interview Andrew as part of its investigation into wealthy sex offender Peter Nygard, who was jailed for 11 years last year for sexually assaulting four women between the late 1980s and 2005.
A letter written to the UK authorities in April 2020 requests that Andrew attend a voluntary interview on both the Epstein and the Nygard investigations.
Andrew has faced intense scrutiny over his links to Epstein over the past few months, heightened by the publication of Virginia Giuffre, who repeated allegations he had sex with her, as a teenager. Andrew has always denied the claims.
In October, it was announced that Andrew would be stripped of his “prince” title and asked to leave his Royal Lodge residence in Windsor.