Two prison guards responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein before his suicide in a New York jail cell have been charged with falsifying prison records.
According to the Associated Press, a grand jury indictment accused guards Toval Noel and Michael Thomas of neglecting their duties.
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The indictement, made public on Tuesday, claims the guards failed to perform the required half-hourly checks on Epstein but fabricated log entries to indicate that they had done so.
Epstein was imprisoned at the Metropolitan Correctional Center when he took his own life on 10 August. He was awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges.
He was placed upon suicide watch after being found with bruising to his neck on 23 July. Under that supervision, he was to be checked on every half hour by guards.
Both of the guards arrested had been working overtime at the time of Epstein's death due to staffing shortages.
While the death was officially ruled as a suicide by the New York medical examiner, conspiracy theories have been rife in the months that have followed, with many questioning whether Epstein actually did commit suicide.
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Dr Michael Baden, the former chief medical examiner for New York City, said that he now suspects foul play, most likely strangulation.
He told Fox News: "I think that the evidence points toward homicide rather than suicide."
Epstein had pleaded not guilty to child sex charges, including the alleged abuse of girls as young as 14, in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.
Those allegations are still being pursued even after his death.
The wealthy financier - a friend of Prince Andrew - was found 'unresponsive' in his cell at 6.30am on 10 August after an 'apparent suicide'.
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He was given life-saving measures in that same cell before he was transferred to hospital and eventually pronounced dead.
The FBI are investigating the death.
His death prevented the possibility of a trial that could have involved a host of prominent figures. It also provoked significant anger amongst those who believed he should have to answer these allegations.
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