SALT LAKE CITY -- A University of Utah law professor filed a document on Friday that accuses a member of the British royal family and one of the country’s most famous lawyers of involvement in sexual abuse.
Professor Paul Cassell, also a retired federal judge, filed what is called a motion for joinder, asking for two new accusers to join a civil case he is pursuing against a billionaire in Florida named Jeffrey Epstein.
The lawsuit alleges Epstein used teenage girls as underage "sex slaves" for himself and some of his powerful friends.
The motion lists Prince Andrew, the younger son of Queen Elizabeth the Second, and Alan Dershowitz, a famed Harvard professor and defense attorney. Both men have denied having any involvement in the alleged offenses. Buckingham Palace responded Friday, click here for details.
Cassell's motion goes on to say one of his clients was trafficked, "for sexual purposes to many other powerful men, including numerous prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister, and other world leaders."
Dershowitz has not only denied the claims, but he has also told the New York Times he would pursue disbarment of Paul Cassell and his co-counsel.
FOX 13 News asked local defense attorney Greg Skordas about the Utah professor who has stepped into an international feud.
Skordas said: “I mean, he's a former federal prosecutor, he's a former federal judge, he's a professor at the University of Utah, he's held in the highest regard—and you would expect that for someone like him to put his name on a pleading, and say: ‘I affirm that these allegations are true to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief’--that in fact he's done the necessary due diligence to establish and to justify those type of allegations. “
Still, Skordas said the Utah professor is going after some big fish, which can mean an ocean of trouble.
“The fact is that these are two high-profile people, and so their reputations are at stake, their national reputations, and they have a lot more to lose than perhaps you and I who may not have that kind of national and international esteem," he said.
See below for the text of the motion.
Motion for Joinder in Jeffrey Epstein Case
