“I’m not a sexual predator, I’m an ‘offender,'” Jeffrey Epstein told the New York Post in 2011. “It’s the difference between a murderer and a person who steals a bagel.”

Epstein died in a New York prison cell on 10 August as he awaited, without the chance of bail, his trial on sex trafficking charges.

It came more than a decade after his conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor, for which he was registered as a sex offender.

This time, he was accused of running a “vast network” of underage girls for sex. He pleaded not guilty.

Now, a New York court is expected to release a list of people connected to Epstein. Some are accused of wrongdoing, while others are making allegations or are potential witnesses.

But who was he?

Born and raised in New York, Epstein taught maths and physics in the city at the private Dalton School in the mid 1970s. He had studied physics and maths himself at university, although he never graduated.

A father of one of his students is said to have been so impressed that he put Epstein in touch with a senior partner at the Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns.

He was a partner there within four years. By 1982, he had created his own firm – J Epstein and Co.

The company managed assets of clients worth more than $1bn (£800m) and was an instant success. Epstein soon began spending his fortune – including on a mansion in Florida, a ranch in New Mexico, and reputedly the largest private home in New York – and socialising with celebrities, artists and politicians.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Donald Trump told New York magazine for a profile on Epstein in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.

“No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”

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