Financier accused of sex trafficking found dead in cell
Inquiry into billionaire’s suspected suicide as victims claim he has escaped justice
Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has killed himself in prison while awaiting trial on child sex-trafficking offences.
The 66-year-old billionaire was found in his cell just hours after a US judge unsealed legal papers which detailed allegations about Prince Andrew.
He was taken to hospital after being discovered by prison guards at 6.30am yesterday but was pronounced dead.
Epstein, already a convicted sex offender, was facing up to 45 years behind bars if he had been convicted of trafficking and conspiracy.
He was arrested last month on charges of arranging to have sex with dozens of underage girls in New York and Florida between 2002 and 2005.
He avoided similar charges in a controversial secret plea deal in 2008, and instead pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and served just 13 months in jail.
Some Epstein accusers and their lawyers reacted with anger to the news he will not now have to face them in court.
Jennifer Araoz, who accused Epstein of raping her when she was 15, said: “We have to live with the scars of his actions for the rest of our lives, while he will never face the consequences of the crimes he committed, the pain and trauma he caused so many people.”
Brad Edwards, a Florida lawyer for nearly two dozen other accusers, said it was “not the ending anyone was looking for”.
He added: “The victims deserved to see Epstein held accountable, and he owed it to everyone he hurt to accept responsibility for all of the pain he caused.”
Epstein killed himself the day after a Manhattan judge ordered the release of 1,200 pages of court documents with new allegations against him and some of his highprofile friends.
Johanna Sjoberg gave a sworn statement that, aged 21, Prince Andrew fondled her breast after she sat on his knee at Epstein’s New York home. Previously, another woman, Virginia Guiffre, claimed Epstein recruited her as a sex slave and forced to her to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was just 17.
In the legal papers, Ms Sjoberg said: “I just remember someone suggesting a photo, and they told us to go get on the couch. And so Andrew and Virginia sat on the couch, and they put the puppet on her lap.
“And so then I sat on Andrew’s lap, and I believe on my own volition, and they took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast, and so Andrew put his on mine.”
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: “This relates to proceedings in the United States, to which The Duke Of York is not a party. Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue.”
A judge was due to consider whether to release a further 10,000 pages of documents, but Epstein’s death could throw this into doubt.
Last month an archive video surfaced of Donald Trump partying with Epstein and a group of cheerleaders, despite the US President claiming he hardly knew him. Trump called Epstein a “terrific guy” and “a lot of fun to be with” in a 2002 interview.
“It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side,” Trump was quoted as saying.
Last month Trump claimed they hadn’t spoken for 15 years, saying: “I’m not a fan.”
The FBI has said it will investigate Epstein’s death.
Two weeks ago he was found on the floor of his cell with bruises on his neck.
US Attorney General William Barr said he was “appalled” to learn of Jeffrey Epstein’s death while in federal custody.
He said: “Mr Epstein’s death raises serious questions that must be answered.”