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Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz Wins Legal Fight over Sex Claims

Summary: Famed Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz appears to have finally removed his name from the sexual abuse allegations from a woman involving him, Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Andrew.

Attorney Alan Dershowitz has been freed of the unsubstantiated claims against him that he had sex with a teenage girl. After billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was accused of being a sexual pedophile, allegations arose that his defense attorney, Dershowitz, was involved.

The twistedly confusing case started in 2005 when a woman went to Palm Beach police alleging that her 14-year-old stepdaughter had been taken to Epstein’s mansion to strip and massage him for $300. The girl left after undressing but the investigation into Epstein had begun. An undercover investigation revealed numerous victims, many of which were minors. Epstein pleaded to a lesser charge, serving 13 months of his 18 month sentence. He is required to register as a level three sex offender for the rest of his life.

In January 2015, Virginia Roberts claimed she had been kept as a sex slave by Epstein when she was 17-years-old. She further alleged that Epstein passed her around to other prominent people like Prince Andrew and Dershowitz. Both deny having sex with Roberts with Dershowitz taking legal action to clear his name of the “absolutely outrageous claims.”

In his comments to the media about the claims against him, the lawyers representing the woman said he made defaming comments about them. Dershowitz said of his lawsuit, “We file a sworn declaration categorically denying the charges and proving by records and other travel documents that I could not have been in the places that she says that she had sex with me. We file a motion to intervene in the court and then we file a defamation action against the two lawyers and the woman. And then we file disbarment proceedings against the two lawyers.”

A six-page opinion from Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeals lays out their rejection of Virginia Robert’s claims that she have been allowed to be part of the lawsuit against Dershowitz for supposedly revealing confidential information in a deposition for a defamation lawsuit he had filed against her attorneys.

The appeals court was upholding a Broward County judge’s ruling that Roberts had no right to seek sanctions against Dershowitz because she was not part of the dueling defamation suits filed in connection to the sexual abuse claims she made. The judge also noted that since those suits had been settled, adding the penalties she was seeking would have been impossible to enforce. Roberts was never part of the defamation litigation so she had no right to try to jump into it and involve herself.

Dershowitz’s attorney, Bruce Rogow, said, “It’s all over. All’s well that ends well,” except that “Alan has had a great reputation. There’s no question he took this to heart in a very hard way and I understand why.”

The end of the Epstein saga is not over. Roberts’ original attorneys Bradley Edwards and Paul Cassell are currently suing the federal government, alleging that the agreement U.S. prosecutors made with Epstein violated the Crime Victims’ Rights Act because they did not alert his victims that they were not pursing federal charges. Epstein could have spent the rest of his life in jail if he had been convicted of the federal charges against him. Instead he was able to cop to one felony of soliciting prostitution of a minor.

Do you think some people are above the law because of their wealth? Tell us in the comments below.

To learn more about Epstein’s legal issues, read these articles:

Photo: vimeo.com

Amanda Griffin: