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Prison guards suspended after Jeffrey Epstein death

Jeffrey Epstein pictured in court in July 2019, shortly before his death. <i>Photo: AAP</i>

Jeffrey Epstein pictured in court in July 2019, shortly before his death. Photo: AAP Photo: AAP

Two guards assigned to watch Jeffrey Epstein the night he died in jail have been placed on leave and the warden has been removed as federal authorities investigate the financier’s death.

The Justice Department announced the changes on Tuesday, amid mounting evidence that the chronically understaffed Metropolitan Correctional Center may have bungled its responsibility to keep Epstein from harming himself.

The 66-year-old was awaiting trial on charges of sexually abusing teenage girls.

Epstein was taken off a suicide watch last month for reasons that have not been explained, and was supposed to have been checked on by a guard every 30 minutes.

But investigators learned those checks weren’t done for several hours before he was found on Saturday morning, according to a person familiar with the case who wished to remain anonymous.

US Attorney General William Barr said on Monday he was “frankly angry to learn of the MCC’s failure to adequately secure this prisoner”.

“We will get to the bottom of what happened and there will be accountability,” Barr said.

The Justice Department said the warden of another facility in upstate New York has been named the acting warden at MCC.

The FBI and the Justice Department’s inspector general are investigating Epstein’s death.

American Federation of Government Employees Local 3148 president Serene Gregg told The Washington Post that one of the guards was a fill-in who had been pressed into service because of staffing shortages.

Epstein was being held without bail, awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges that could have brought 45 years in prison.

Prison guards at the Manhattan Correctional Center have been placed on leave as investigations continue into the death of Jeffrey Epstein. Photo: Getty

The manner in which he killed himself has not been officially announced. An autopsy was performed on Sunday, but the city’s chief medical examiner said investigators were awaiting further information.

Federal prosecutors in New York are pursuing a parallel investigation into whether any associates of Epstein will face charges for assisting him in what authorities say was his rampant sexual abuse of teenage girls.

Barr warned that any co-conspirator in the sex crimes case against Epstein “should not rest easy”.

“The victims deserve justice, and they will get it,” Barr said.

Authorities are most likely turning their attention to the team of recruiters and employees who, according to police reports, FBI records and court documents, knew about Epstein’s penchant for teenage girls and lined up victims for him.

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