World - Two prison officers responsible for guarding late US
financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein the night he
died were charged on Tuesday with falsifying records.
Correctional officers Tova Noel and Michael Thomas failed to check
on Epstein every half hour and fabricated records to cover up their
negligence, according to the US attorney for the Southern District of
New York.
"As alleged, the defendants had a duty to ensure the safety and
security of federal inmates in their care at the Metropolitan
Correctional Center," US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a
statement.
"Instead, they repeatedly failed to conduct mandated checks on
inmates, and lied on official forms to hide their dereliction," he
added.
The indictment said the guards "sat at their desk, browsed the
internet, and moved around the common area" instead of checking on
prisoners.
The two men surrendered on Tuesday morning, the attorney's office
said.
The charges are the first in connection with Epstein's death.
The 66-year-old financier was found dead on August 10 in a
high-security unit of a Manhattan jail, where he was awaiting trial
on charges of sex-trafficking of minors and conspiracy.
New York's chief medical examiner ruled the death a suicide.
Epstein had only recently been taken off suicide watch and was
supposed to be monitored every 30 minutes.
Epstein had ties to numerous wealthy people in the United States,
including President Donald Trump and former president Bill Clinton.