Skye Roberts urges unity ahead of State of the Union address
Skye Roberts, the younger brother of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, appealed for unity ahead of the State of the Union address.
- Skye Roberts continues to advocate for her sister, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Jeffrey Epstein’s main accuser, who died by suicide.
- Roberts is calling on Congress to pass the Virginia Law, which would eliminate the statute of limitations for sex trafficking crimes.
- He is also calling for the full release of the remaining Jeffrey Epstein files.
Skye Roberts was supposed to be standing next to her sister.
It was Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s day to watch the State of the Union address after House Democrats introduced her eponymous “Virginia Act” to eliminate the statute of limitations that has protected sex traffickers like the late Jeffrey Epstein.
Giuffre, Epstein’s main accuser, died by suicide in April 2025.
Now her brother is looking to carry on her legacy. She is calling on Congress to pass her legislation and calling on the US to release the rest of the Epstein files. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department suspended the review after releasing about 3 million of the 6 million pages. President Trump said the United States must move forward.
“I’m here to proudly say that all that Virginia has done for this world has not been in vain,” Roberts, along with other Epstein accusers and Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin and Suhas Subramanyam, said at a press conference on February 24.
“She may have passed away,” he said, pausing to catch his breath. “But her spirit is still here. It lives in every survivor who has decided to speak out. It lives in every victim who is still trying to find their voice, and it lives in every person who refuses to accept a country where exploitation goes with impunity.”
Roberts has been speaking on behalf of his sister and sometimes with his wife, Amanda, for the past nine months. They still often call her “Sissy,” Roberts’ childhood nickname.
“Virginia didn’t just survive, she fought. She pushed back against a culture of silence,” he said, pride evident in his voice. He wears a silver and blue butterfly pin, symbolizing the hope and strength of survivors. “She proved what happens when a normal person decides they won’t be erased.”
Now, Roberts hopes to continue the work of the sister who took care of them when they were children.
Virginia Giuffre saved her brother’s life.
The brothers grew up with their parents among cypress trees and grassy horse fields in a rural area outside of West Palm Beach. She was in kindergarten when he was born, she wrote in her 2025 memoir, Nobody’s Girl, published six months after his death.
Giuffre called him Skydy Bump, or simply Skydy. He was named after their father.
His crib was in her room, and Giuffre later wrote that she “felt as if he were my baby.” When he woke up in the middle of the night, she comforted him.
She carried him as his parents walked around with beer cans in hand.
Then one day, as he and Giuffre were playing in the sandbox in the backyard, her brother pulled her by her T-shirt and pointed at a snake. She grabbed him and ran home.
Her mother said she saved his life. Those were deadly water moccasins.
Her book also includes stories from her South Florida childhood, including a homemade bike ramp and treehouse, a snapping turtle pond and a goat named Cordelius.
Five years older than him, she covered his ears when his parents fought and protected him from his father’s abuse.
she protected him without him knowing
Roberts didn’t realize how protective her sister was until she read a draft of her book as an adult.
One of the reasons she was so afraid of Epstein as an adult was because she said he had threatened her family.
At age 16, Giuffre took a job as a locker room attendant at the nearby resort, Mar-a-Lago. My father worked there as a maintenance worker.
Just before she turned 17, she met Epstein and Maxwell. Maxwell was later sentenced to prison for sex trafficking. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on similar charges.
She wrote that she did not tell her family when Epstein began abusing her.
She wrote in her memoir that the abuse began during an interview for a job as a masseuse. “My body couldn’t escape from this room, but my mind couldn’t bear to stay there and went into a kind of autopilot, obedient and determined to survive.”
She wrote that the massage led to sex with Epstein and the men he trafficked her to.
She thought about leaving. That’s when Epstein handed her a grainy photo, she wrote.
“He was definitely my younger brother. Skydy.”
“We know where your brother goes to school,” Epstein told her. “You must never tell anyone what’s going on in this house.”
Her brother was 12 years old.
“I had no choice, I believed, but I had to accept it and make the best of it. If not for myself, then for Skydy’s sake.”
tell the truth and find justice
Roberts saw how hard her sister tried, even though no one seemed to believe her.
He defended her when she accused Prince Andrew, once second in line to the throne, of abuse. He supported his sister in telling her story again and again, even when people belittled and despised her. Andrew was stripped of his title in 2025 and settled a civil suit with Giuffre Roberts in 2022, but he has not admitted wrongdoing and has not been arrested for any sex crimes.
“She had a deep love for her sister survivors, and a deep love for the millions of victims and survivors around the world whose names may never be known and whose lives mattered just as much,” Roberts said.
“It is no exaggeration to say that she was a trailblazer who overcame obstacles. She helped pave the way for survivors to walk toward truth, toward dignity, and toward justice,” he said. “And we are here today to carry her torch along that path.”
Her brother still holds it. And how she was able to build a beautiful life with her three children despite the challenges.
Now he wants people to listen to her words through him. “Choose unity. Choose love. Choose the courage it takes to stand with survivors, not just when it’s easy, but when it’s expensive, when it’s uncomfortable, and when you challenge those in power.”
That’s why he plans to continue speaking out, traveling from his home in Florida to Washington, D.C., and spending a full day speaking with reporters and reporters.
“The only thing more powerful than hate is love. This will never go away,” he said. “We will not stop until the truth comes out… For Virginia and her surviving sisters… their lives are worth more than anyone else’s reputation.”
Laura Trujillo is a national columnist focused on health and wellness. She is the author of “Stepping Back from the Ledge: A Daughter’s Search for Truth and Renewal” and can be reached at ltrujillo@usatoday.com.
