Epstein: Model scout Jean-Luc Brunel found dead in jail

A French modelling agent and a former associate of deceased US financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his prison cell in Paris.

Jean-Luc Brunel was found hanged in his cell in La Santé prison on Saturday morning, French media report.

He has been in custody since being placed under formal investigation in 2020, accused of sexual harassment and the rape of minors aged between 15 and 18 in France.

Mr Brunel had denied any wrongdoing.

Police have opened an inquiry into the circumstances of his death.

Mr Brunel co-founded French modelling agency Karin Models in 1977, and MC2 Model Management in the US with funding from Epstein.

He was already a convicted sex offender, having pleaded guilty to prostitution charges involving a minor in Florida in 2008.

Mr Brunel was arrested at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport in November 2019 as he was preparing to board a flight to Senegal.

His arrest was the result of an inquiry by French prosecutors into rape and sexual assault allegations against Epstein, focusing on potential crimes committed against French victims and suspects who are French citizens.

US court documents also allege Mr Brunel procured girls for Epstein, flying them from France to the US and promising them modelling contracts.

Virginia Giuffre, one of the main complainants in Epstein's prosecution, has alleged she had been forced into sex with Mr Brunel.