Prince Andrew accuser and another denied right to join lawsuit

MIAMI - Federal prosecutors say two women claiming to be victims of wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein cannot join in a lawsuit seeking to reopen Epstein's 2008 plea agreement.

The women, identified only as Jane Doe No. 3 and Jane Doe No. 4, sought late last year to take part in the 2008 case brought by two other women. All four claim they were victimized as minors by Epstein, who pleaded guilty to state underage sex and prostitution solicitation charges but escaped federal prosecution.

Prosecutors say in court papers filed late Tuesday that the two new Jane Does must be barred by time limitations.

Jane Doe No. 3 made international headlines by claiming in a court document that Epstein required her to have sex with Britain's Prince Andrew. Buckingham Palace vehemently denied the allegation.

The woman also claims she was forced to have sex with Alan Dershowitz, a high-profile, 76-year-old lawyer who has represented clients including O.J. Simpson.

Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, said he is filing a disbarment complaint against the attorneys who filed the motion in the lawsuit as well as an affidavit denying the allegations.

"I have no fear. I have nothing to hide," Dershowitz said.

Royal officials denied "any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors" by Andrew, and strengthened that stance Sunday after two tabloid newspapers published details of interviews with the alleged victim. The controversy dominated British news coverage for a time.

"It is emphatically denied that the Duke of York had any form of sexual contact or relationship with (the woman)," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. "The allegations made are false and without any foundation."

The statements are unusual because royal spokespeople typically refrain from commenting on most media reports.

The woman claims she was forced to have sex with the royal in London, in New York and on a private Caribbean island between 1999 to 2002.

Those claims were filed with a court on Tuesday as part of a lawsuit centering on Epstein. The billionaire financier was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 after pleading guilty to child sex offenses, but several women want authorities to reconsider a plea deal that they said allowed Epstein to avoid more serious federal charges. Dershowitz represented Epstein in that case.

Dershowitz and Andrew are not named as defendants in that case, and no criminal charges or formal allegations have been made against them.

Prince Andrew Albert Edward Christian, son of Queen Elizabeth II and fifth in line to the throne, has long been plagued by his relationship with the wealthy and politically connected Epstein. The royal stepped down as the U.K. special representative for trade and investment in 2011, a position he held for a decade, after he was photographed meeting with Epstein, who was then a convicted sex offender.

Prince Andrew has previously been accused of spending time with minors Epstein was allegedly sexually exploiting, but he had not yet been named in a court document as a participant in sexual activity with the victims.