Epstein taken off suicide watch on psychologist’s advice

Sex fiend financier Jeffrey Epstein was taken off suicide watch on the recommendation of a psychologist at the federal detention center where he ultimately killed himself, according to a letter from the U.S. Justice Department.

Epstein, 66, had been placed on suicide watch on July 24, after he tried to hang himself in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan.

But he was “later removed from suicide watch after being evaluated by a doctoral-level psychologist who determined that a suicide watch was no longer warranted,” according to a letter sent to the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday.

The letter, dated Thursday, came from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd’s office in response to the committee’s demands seeking information about Epstein’s death.

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Word of the decision to pull Epstein off suicide watch came as Britain’s Prince Andrew released a statement Saturday distancing himself from Epstein, who has been repeatedly linked to the Duke of York.

Andrew said he had seen Epstein “infrequently and probably no more than only once or twice a year.”

While he did admit to staying at Epstein’s many estates, he claims he didn’t “witness or suspect any behavior of that sort that subsequently led to his arrest and conviction" of sex trafficking charges in 2008.

“It was a mistake and an error to see him after his release in 2010 and I can only reiterate my regret that I was mistaken to think what I thought I knew of him was evidently not the real person, given what we now know.”

“I am at a loss to understand or explain Mr. Epstein’s lifestyle,” Andrew said. “I deplore the exploitation of any human being and would not condone, participate in or encourage any such behavior.”

The accused sex trafficker died on Aug. 10 after he used a bedsheet to hang himself inside his cell at MCC. The city Medical Examiner later declared his death a suicide. Epstein was being held at the federal prison since he was arrested on sex trafficking charges July 6.

His death triggered investigations by the FBI, the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which runs the detention facility.

The two guards who were responsible for watching Epstein were put on administrative leave, officials said. The warden at MCC was also transferred to another facility.