In a statement issued the morning, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced it is opening a rape investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. According to The Guardian, prosecutor Rémy Heitz said the decision was based on “elements transmitted” to his office and “exchanges with American authorities.” Epstein, a financier and convicted sex offender, killed himself on Aug. 10 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. “The investigations … will focus on potential crimes committed against French victims on national territory as well as abroad, and on suspects who are French citizens,” the statement from Heitz’s office said. The potential offenses could include the sexual assault of minors under and over the age of 15, according to prosecutors.