French prosecutors say a modeling agent who was close to disgraced U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead Saturday in his French jail cell.
Agent Jean-Luc Brunel was being held in an investigation into the rape of minors and trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation. The French investigation was prompted by sex-trafficking charges against Epstein in the U.S., and Brunel was considered central to the probe.
Paris police opened an investigation into Brunel's death. Brunel's lawyer did not comment. Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial.
As the Associated Press reported, Brunel was a frequent companion of Epstein and considered a central part of the French probe into allegations of sexual exploitation of women and girls by Epstein and his inner circle. Multiple women have said they were victims and reported it to police since the investigation was opened in 2019.