- Prince Andrew made a court filing calling the New York Child Victims Act "unconstitutional."
- His lawyers said that New York's age of consent is 17, while the Act covers abuse of those under 18.
- The filing said that the lack of consent of Virginia Giuffre, his accuser, is therefore "unsettled."
Prince Andrew's lawyers said a New York law that allowed victims of child sex abuse to sue until they turn 55 years old was "unconstitutional" as they seek to have a sexual-assault lawsuit against him thrown out by a judge.
The Duke of York cast doubt on whether the New York Child Victims Act was a "reasonable measure to address injustice" in a Monday court filing seen by Insider. Virginia Giuffre, now 38, who is one of the accusers of the late Jeffrey Epstein, used the law to file a sexual-assault claim against Prince Andrew.
In the filing disputing Giuffre's accusations, Andrew's lawyers said that while the Child Victims Act allowed survivors to sue for abuses they suffered before they were 18 years old, the age of consent in New York is 17.
"The issue of consent is unsettled with regard to those — like Giuffre — who were between the ages of 17 and 18," the filing said.
The statute of limitations typically prevents people from suing over child-sexual-abuse allegations once they turn 23. But in 2019, New York lawmakers introduced a "look-back window" in the Child Victims Act that raised the deadline to 55 years of age, giving victims of decades-old abuse two years to file civil claims by August 14, 2021.
Giuffre filed the lawsuit on August 9, just five days before the window closed.
She alleges that the royal sexually assaulted her when she was 17 at Epstein's New York mansion and in the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who is accused of trafficking underage girls for sex. Epstein died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial.
Andrew has "absolutely and categorically" denied the claims.
"These highly subjective determinations are the kind most likely to be hampered by the passage of time, as memories fade, false memories are created, and witnesses die or otherwise become unavailable," the court filing read.
Insider has reached out to Prince Andrew for comment. Virginia Giuffre's lawyer did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.