WEB DESK
Jeffrey Epstein, the investor who faced federal charges of molesting teenage girls, has died, according to multiple news reports.
Epstein committed suicide in his Lower Manhattan jail cell, ABC News reported, citing three law enforcement officials. A gurney carrying a man who looked like Epstein was wheeled out of the Manhattan Correctional Center around 7:30 a.m., the New York Post reported. The ambulance went to New York Downtown Hospital.
Epstein had previously been moved to a suicide-watch unit after being found unconscious in his cell with marks on his neck on July 23, a week after his bail request had been rejected.
Epstein, a self-described “collector” of rich and powerful people, had links to a Who’s Who of prominent political and business figures. That circle, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton and billionaire Leslie Wexner, all distanced themselves from the financier after his July 2019 arrest.
U.S. prosecutors said Epstein used his wealth and power to sexually abuse dozens of young girls for years at his homes, paying them hundreds of dollars in cash for each encounter and hundreds more if they brought in more victims.