US financier Jeffrey Epstein 'found dead in cell'

In Summary

• Epstein was accused of paying girls under the age of 18 to perform sex acts at his Manhattan and Florida mansions between 2002 and 2005.

• His body was discovered on Saturday at the facility in New York.

Image: REUTERS

Wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, US media report.

His body was discovered on Saturday at the facility in New York.

The exact circumstances of his death are unclear.

Epstein had pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was being held without bail.

Last month, he was found semi-conscious in his cell with injuries to his neck. He was treated at a nearby hospital, reports say, before being returned to his cell at New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Epstein was accused of paying girls under the age of 18 to perform sex acts at his Manhattan and Florida mansions between 2002 and 2005.

He was arrested on 6 July after landing in New Jersey on his private jet.

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