(TNND) — Virginia Giuffre, the woman who accused Britain’s Prince Andrew of sexual abuse when she was underaged and trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, has died by suicide at age 41, according to a report.
Giuffre died on Friday at her farm in Western Australia, her publicist confirmed.
“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said in a statement to NBC News. “She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.”
“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors,” the statement said. “In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”
Giuffre was one of Epstein and Andrew’s most prominent accusers. She filed a lawsuit against the English royal in New York in 2021, where she claimed, she was forced to have intercourse with him when she was underaged.
Epstein, a wealthy, well-connected New York financier, also died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges in the U.S. Some of his victims include teenage girls as young as 14-years-old.
The charges on Epstein came 14 years after police first began investigating allegations of sexual abuse on underage girls.
Giuffre came forward publicly after the initial investigation into Epstein resulted in an 18-month jail term in Florida after the money mogul made a deal to avoid federal prosecution by pleading guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution – a relatively minor state-level charge.
A Florida native, Giuffre said she was recruited by Epstein’s girlfriend and later employee, Ghislaine Maxwell to be a masseuse for Epstein until eventually the couple pressured her into engaging in sexual acts with not only Epstein but his friends and associates as well.
Giuffre filed many lawsuits and, in some cases, settled against Epstein and others connected to him.
Epstein’s suicide put an end to the possibility of holding him criminally accountable. Maxwell, however, was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Giuffre who eventually married, moved to Australia and had children found the advocacy charity, SOAR, in 2015. She later separated from her husband.
She is survived by her three children, whom the statement describes as the “light of her life.”
“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring. The world has lost an amazing human being today. Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” Sigrid McCawley, an attorney for Giuffre said in a statement.
