Two prison guards on duty when Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide were charged Tuesday over their alleged failure to monitor him, the latest development in the mystery surrounding his death.

The charges are the first in a federal investigation into how the wealthy financier, one of America’s most high-profile detainees, was able to kill himself in a high-security jail.They come as Britain’s Prince Andrew faces a growing storm for defending his relationship with Epstein in a much-criticized television interview.

Epstein, 66, was found dead in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center on August 10 as he awaited trial on allegations that he trafficked girls as young as 14 for sex.

New York prosecutors charged Tova Noel, 31, and Michael Thomas, 41, with failing to carry out regularly required prisoner checks and then signing false records to cover their tracks.

“For substantial portions of their shifts, Noel and Thomas sat at their desk, browsed the internet, and moved around the (jail’s) common area,” the indictment, unsealed in a Manhattan court, alleges.

No correctional officer checked on Epstein from approximately 10:30 pm on August 9 to 6:30 am the next morning when his lifeless body was discovered, prosecutors said.

They don’t say why the checks weren’t carried out. Prisons unions suggested at the time that the facility was understaffed and officers were working overtime.

Epstein was a multi-millionaire hedge fund manager who befriended countless celebrities over the years, including US President Donald Trump.Epstein was charged with one count of sex trafficking of minors and another of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.

He denied the charges but faced up to 45 years in jail if found guilty. Epstein’s death fueled several conspiracy theories, mostly speculating that he had been murdered to stop him from revealing compromising information about some of his wealthy acquaintances. ‘