Jeffrey Epstein jailed in teen sex scandal

Jeffrey Epstein (pictured), the US billionaire pal of Prince Andrew and Bill Clinton, has received an 18-month jail sentence – to be followed by a year of house arrest – after being found guilty of soliciting under-age girls in Florida. The 55-year-old financier, who started life as a humble Brooklyn maths teacher and went on to advise a raft of PSHNW's (People of Super High Net Worth), was arrested two years ago after allegedly paying several girls under the age of 18 between $200 and $300 each in return for naked massages at his Palm Beach home. These sessions sometimes led to sex.

But while prison is likely to be a shock, the matter will not end there. In addition to being placed on the sex offenders' list, Epstein also faces multi-million-dollar lawsuits in state and federal courts filed by several women over similar allegations.

It remains to be seen whether his friends will rally around him. Epstein, a bachelor who also has homes in New York, New Mexico and London, as well as a private island in St Thomas, had been on good terms with Bill Clinton – he lent him his personal Boeing 727 jet for an African trip in 2002 – and the Duke of York, who holidayed with him in Thailand. (Continued below)

Another chum, Donald Trump, once described Epstein as a "terrific guy" and told New York Magazine 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." No longer.