French ministers seek inquiry into disgraced Epstein

Two French government ministers called Monday for an investigation into the alleged child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, saying a US inquiry had exposed links between the disgraced financier and France.

Epstein, whose suicide in jail over the weekend has outraged his alleged victims, owned an apartment in Paris and had been in the city just before his arrest in New York last month.

"The American investigation has turned up links with France," Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa said in a joint statement with French child welfare minister Adrien Taquet.

The ministers did not provide any details of the alleged France links. Epstein, 66, was accused of raping and sexually exploiting dozens of young girls for years, and of also providing teenage victims for friends and acquaintances.

According to US media reports, he kept a "little black book" with the names of over 100 "recruits" from areas where he had residences, including New York and Palm Beach, Florida, as well as Paris.

Prosecutors believe he orchestrated a sprawling network of high school and college students who were lined up by other young women and then forced to satisfy the hedge fund billionaire's wishes.

He was facing charges of sex trafficking of minors and of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, which would have carried a maximum of 45 years in prison.

Epstein had pleaded not guilty, but his request for bail had been refused. He was found hanged in his cell on Saturday.