The announcement from Sheriff Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County came a few days after a lawyer, Bradley Edwards, accused Epstein of engaging in “improper sexual contact” during the time he spent outside jail while he was serving time for state charges of soliciting prostitution.
Edwards represents a number of women with allegations about Epstein, who is now facing sex-trafficking charges in Manhattan that could result in a 45-year prison sentence if he is convicted.
An investigator working with Edwards said in an interview Friday that the work-release allegation originated from two women who said they had been brought from another state at age 18 to visit Epstein at his office.
The investigator, Mike Fisten, said the women reported that the meeting turned sexual in nature, with Epstein naked but for a GPS ankle monitor, and that there was sexual activity that included physical contact.
Fisten declined to discuss specifics about the women or their stories, which he said included substantial detail, and the sheriff’s department said it did not know the identities of the women and had not received any complaints.
Epstein’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sheriff’s office said the investigation would explore potential violations in “any actions taken by the deputies assigned to monitor Epstein during his work-release program.”
“All aspects of the matter will be fully investigated to ensure total transparency and accountability,” the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
As part of a deal negotiated with the U.S. attorney in Miami, Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to two state prostitution charges in Florida and served 13 months in jail. Officials allowed him to spend 12 hours a day, six days a week outside the facility in order to work.
Edwards said this week that he had received information from the women about what transpired during those work hours. Edwards did not release specific information about the person who visited Epstein and said he did not know of any of the visitors to the office who were under 18.
Fisten said that he had long ago sought access to the visitor logs from the work-release program, but wasn’t able to get it. On Thursday, WPTV reported that other records from the department showed Epstein making work-release stops at his home — sometimes for up to three hours.
In a video posted online by the sheriff’s office this month, Chief Deputy Mike Gauger said Epstein was closely monitored during his work-release hours. Epstein had a GPS ankle monitor and was not allowed to wander or even go out for lunch, Gauger said. The monitoring included an on-site deputy, paid for by Epstein, and a sign-in sheet to track limited visitation rights.
“He was not allowed to have family, friends, guests at his office,” Gauger said in the video. “The only ones that were allowed to visit him were his attorneys or his business partner.”
The work-release arrangement was not part of Epstein’s deal with prosecutors, but was approved later by the sheriff’s office. Gauger said that Epstein met the department’s qualifications for the program.
On Thursday, Judge Richard M. Berman of U.S. District Court rejected Epstein’s request to await trial under home detention, saying that he was concerned about whether Epstein would abuse teenage girls if he were released from custody.
The federal indictment in New York accuses Epstein and his employees of paying dozens of underage girls to engage in sex acts at his homes in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. He has been detained at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan since his arrest this month.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.