NEW YORK: Two federal workers who were on duty on the night financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in a New York jail cell were charged on Tuesday in connection with their alleged failure to check on him, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported.
“They are accused of failing to check in on him every 30 minutes and fabricating log entries to show they had,” the publication wrote. “The charges against the two guards are the first to arise from a criminal inquiry into his death.”
The two Federal Bureau of Prisons employees appeared in the federal court in Manhattan. A spokesperson for US Attorney Geoffrey Berman had no immediate comment.
Epstein, 66, a well-connected money manager, was found unresponsive in his cell in August at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC).
His suicide came a little over a month after he was arrested and charged with trafficking dozens of underage girls as young as 14 from at least 2002 to 2005. He had pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors have said Epstein and his associates systematically recruited young girls for him to sexually abuse in his mansions in Manhattan and in Palm Beach, Florida.
An autopsy concluded that Epstein had hanged himself. Both Epstein’s brother and the lawyers who represented him in his criminal case have expressed doubts about the medical examiner’s conclusion.
According to the prison bureau, which runs the MCC, the last inmate suicide at the facility was in 2006.
The New York Times (NYT) had earlier reported that the two workers had been arrested, citing a person briefed on the case, but said others involved in the case later said the arrests had yet to occur and that the workers would be charged later on Tuesday.
Law enforcement sources told Reuters after Epstein’s death that guards had failed to check on Epstein every 30 minutes as required by protocol, and that two cameras outside the jail cell had malfunctioned.
Epstein had been taken off suicide watch shortly before his death.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Office of Inspector General launched probes into the circumstances of Epstein’s death.
Epstein’s estate, which, according to his will, is worth $577 million, is now the target of civil lawsuits by more than a dozen of his alleged victims. Its executors have proposed creating a victim compensation fund to resolve the claims.
Epstein’s high-profile friends once included now-US President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton and Britain’s Prince Andrew.
One of Epstein’s alleged victims has said in a lawsuit that she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew. The prince has denied the claim.
In a court filing on July 25, the government said it was pursuing an “ongoing investigation of uncharged individuals” in connection with the case.
