One of two people supposedly guarding Jeffrey Epstein when he apparently hanged himself in a federal jail cell was not a full-fledged correctional officer, and neither guard had checked on Epstein for several hours before he was discovered, the New York Times reports. The details emerged on Monday as Attorney General William Barr sharply criticized the management of the federal jail in Manhattan where Epstein, who was accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls, was found dead on Saturday morning. “We are now learning of serious irregularities at this facility that are deeply concerning and demand a thorough investigation,” Barr said. “We will get to the bottom of what happened. There will be accountability.”
Questions have been raised about why Epstein had been taken off suicide watch just days after apparently trying to kill himself and then was left alone in a cell without close supervision. Barr said Epstein’s suicide would not halt the investigation into other people who might have helped him traffic teenage girls for sex. On Monday, FBI agents and New York detectives raided Epstein’s private, 70-acre island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, looking for documents, photographs, videos, computers and other materials. “Any co-conspirators should not rest easy,” Barr said. “The victims deserve justice and they will get it.” In the Manhattan jail, guards were supposed to look in on prisoners in the protective unit where he was housed every half-hour. Only one of the two people guarding the Special Housing Unit — known as 9 South — normally worked as a correctional officer. Officials did not say what sort of job the other employee usually worked.