Just 18 workers were guarding 750 jail inmates on the night Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide

Associated Press/Mary Altaffer

This Aug. 13, 2019, file photo, shows the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York.

• The Manhattan jail that the financier Jeffrey Epstein died in last Saturday was chronically understaffed and had tasked just 18 workers with guarding 750 inmates.
• Ten of those workers were working overtime when Epstein died, The New York Times reported, citing Bureau of Prison records.
• The staffing problems have frequently resulted in workers like teachers or nurses guarding inmates, even though they are not correctional officers.
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On the night that Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail, just 18 workers were tasked with guarding the roughly 750 inmates locked up there, The New York Times reported Saturday.

The financier and accused sex trafficker hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell, just weeks after he was removed from suicide watch.

Epstein was charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy, and federal prosecutors had accused him of abusing dozens of girls as young as 14.

The Metropolitan Correctional Center has faced intense scrutiny following revelations that the two guards who were supposed to check in on Epstein every 30 minutes were actually asleep for several hours and falsified the jail logs.

Both guards had been working extreme overtime shifts, and one was only a former corrections officer who had volunteered for the shift.

Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Jeffrey Epstein appears in a photo taken for the NY Division of Criminal Justice Services' sex offender registry

Read more: Epstein's last days were spent emptying vending machines with his lawyers in a private meeting room, avoiding suicide watch, and paying other inmates' commissaries

But the strenuous overtime hours the guards were working appears not to have been unusual for the facility. The Times reported that of the 18 workers in the jail that the night Epstein died, 10 were on overtime.

One post was even vacant, The Times reported, citing Bureau of Prison records.

The Times report documented a slew of appalling conditions at MCC, including chronic staffing issues that resulted in employees such as teachers and nurses working as guards even though they were not full-fledged corrections officers.

• Read more:
• After Jeffrey Epstein's suicide, Ghislaine Maxwell may have taken his place as the 'kingpin' prosecutors are looking to take down. But experts say don't expect criminal charges anytime soon.
• Jeffrey Epstein's accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell, who no one could seem to find, was just spotted alive and well at In-N-Out burger
• Unsealed flight logs show that Trump was on Epstein's private jet in 1997
• 10 of the most bizarre details people have reported finding in Jeffrey Epstein's NYC mansion, from a painting of Bill Clinton in a dress to prosthetic breasts mounted on a bathroom wall

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, get help. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations.