Jeffrey Epstein died after both guards ‘fell asleep’: report

Both guards assigned to protect accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein fell asleep while they were supposed to be protecting him from himself, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

"The two guards who were in the jail unit where Jeffrey Epstein apparently killed himself fell asleep and failed to check on him for about three hours, then falsified records to cover up their mistake, a law enforcement official and a prison official said on Tuesday," the newspaper reported.

"Those disclosures came as the two guards were placed on administrative leave and the warden of the jail, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, was temporarily reassigned, pending the outcome of the investigation into Mr. Epstein’s death, the Justice Department announced," The Times noted.

The report also says the correctional officers falsified records logging their required 30 minute checks on Epstein.

"Such false entries in an official log could constitute a federal crime," the paper reported. "In fact, the guards had been asleep for some or all of the three hours, the officials said."

Only one of the two guards was even a correctional officer.

"One of the guards was a former correctional officer who had taken a different position at the detention center that did not involve overseeing detainees," The Times reported. "He had been pressed into service again as a guard because of a staff shortage and was working on overtime, a law enforcement official and an employee at the jail said."