Jeffrey Epstein died after negligence and misconduct by prison officers, says US Justice Department watchdog

Sex offender and former financier Jeffrey Epstein died due to the negligence and misconduct of federal prison officers, the US Justice Department watchdog has said.

The Inspector General of the watchdog concluded that prison staff failed to check in on Epstein on the night of his death at regular intervals despite being on suicide watch. However, the report also concluded that there was no information which “contradicted the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) determination regarding the absence of criminality in connection with how Epstein died”.

Epstein was found dead inside his Manhattan prison cell in August 2019 while he was awaiting trial for multiple sex trafficking charges. He had been on suicide watch on 23 July after fears were raised by an incident in which cellmates noted that he had likely attempted to take his own life.

He was placed into a special housing unit under the condition that he would have a cellmate and an officer would look into the cell every 30 minutes. Further investigations into his death concluded that these conditions were not followed on the night of his death, with Epstein being left alone for at least three hours. His cellmate upon arrival had also been transferred out of the cell, with no replacement being placed inside.

Emergency services were called to the cell when Epstein's body was found. A coroner ruled his death as suicide.

Epstein was due to begin trial for multiple counts of the sex trafficking of minors in Florida. His close associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted of federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges after helping to procure young girls for Epstein, while also being convicted of child sex abuse and prostitution in 2021.