(New throughout, adds accuser's statement on Prince Andrew)
By Brendan Pierson
NEW YORK, Nov 18 (Reuters) - A woman who accuses Jeffrey
Epstein of sexually abusing her as a child on Monday said
Britain’s Prince Andrew should tell U.S. authorities what he
knows about the financier.
"Prince Andrew, and any others who were close to Epstein,
should come forward and give a statement under oath on what
information they have," the woman, calling herself Jane Doe 15,
said at a news conference with her lawyer Gloria Allred.
The woman on Monday became the latest of more than a dozen
women to sue Epstein's estate, saying in her lawsuit that he
subjected her to a "vicious, prolonged sexual assault" at his
New Mexico ranch when she was 15.
Epstein, 66, hanged himself in jail in August while awaiting
trial on federal sex trafficking charges. He had pleaded not
guilty. Two days earlier he signed a will and put his estimated
$577 million estate into a trust.
The financier once counted among his friends U.S. President
Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew.
In an interview on Saturday, Prince Andrew denied having sex
with Virginia Giuffre, another of Epstein's alleged victims, who
said in a previously filed lawsuit that she was trafficked by
Epstein and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was
17.
Lawyers for the estate's executors could not be reached for
comment.
Epstein's brother and his lawyers have questioned a medical
examiner's conclusion that his death was a suicide. Doe on
Monday wore a bracelet with the words, "Epstein didn't kill
himself."
Doe, who grew up in a poor family in the Midwest, met
Epstein's secretary during a 2004 school trip to New York City.
The secretary later invited her to view a magic show in Las
Vegas and then fly to Epstein's New Mexico ranch in his private
jet, the lawsuit said.
The secretary said Epstein was interested in helping girls
who were in difficult circumstances, and when Doe arrived,
Epstein summoned her to give him a massage alone, and then
sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit said.
The executors Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn last week said
they would seek to create a compensation fund for victims. The
proposal must be approved by a court in the U.S. Virgin Islands,
which is overseeing the estate.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Noeleen
Walder and Howard Goller)