Jeffrey Epstein's suicide resulted from 'negligence and misconduct' by jail guards

Justice Department watchdog has said in a new report released Tuesday (June 27) that disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's death by suicide was apparently a result of negligence and misconduct by the federal Bureau of Prisons and workers at the New York City jail.

Epstein took his own life while awaiting trial charges linked to sex trafficking of minors. He had previously been convicted in Florida of paying young girls for massages, and was also accused of sexually exploiting dozens of underage girls, some as young as 14, at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida between 2002 and 2005.

Epstein pleaded not guilty and on August 10, 2019, he was found dead, hanging in his cell at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center at the age of 66. The autopsy confirmed that it was a death by suicide.

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As reported by news agency The Associated Press, in a statement released with the report, Michael Horowitz, who is the Justice Department's inspector general, said, "The BOP's failures are troubling not only because the BOP did not adequately safeguard an individual in its custody..."

"...but also because they led to questions about the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death and effectively deprived Epstein's numerous victims of the opportunity to seek justice through the criminal justice system," the statement added.

The inspector general admitted that there was no evidence which would contradict the FBI's determination that there was no criminality associated with the death.

But he argued that the job performance and functional failures, facilitated further by staffing shortages and a "widespread disregard" for BOP policies and procedures,made Epstein's death possible.

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Misconduct and negligence by staff

In the report, Horowitz concluded that none of the videos captured by the cameras that were recording showed any indication of anyone else in the cell.

Investigators probed for possible money changing hands involving guards but found no evidence of thateither.

The prosecutors said that the workersassigned to guard Epstein were sleeping and shopping online instead of checking on him every 30 minutes as required.

AP obtained documents related to Epstein’s death from the Federal Bureau of Prisons and then collated the report.

It is mentioned in the report that Epstein spent 36 days at the now-shuttered Metropolitan Correctional Center. He was also put on suicide watch for 31 hours two weeks before his death after he had attempted to die by suicide that left his neck bruised and scraped.

The report also mentioned that the workers tasked with guarding Epstein the night he died were working overtime.

(With inputs from agencies)

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