Reports: Jeffrey Epstein on suicide watch after hospitalization

July 25 (UPI) -- Just days after a judge ordered that billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein remain jailed pending trial on a federal sex trafficking rap, he's now under suicide watch after he was found injured in his cell, according to reports.

Citing unnamed sources, WNBC-TV reported Epstein was found Wednesday with marks around his neck at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. The report said Epstein may have tried to hang himself, but the New York Daily News reported late Wednesday they're unsure how he received the injuries.

Epstein was hospitalized for the injury before he returned to the jail complex, WABC-TV reported.

Epstein was placed in the general population at the facility before he was moved to solitary protective custody, due to threats from other inmates.

A week ago, a federal judge in Manhattan refused bail and house arrest for the 66-year-old financier, calling him a danger to the community and a considerable flight risk. Days earlier, prosecutors said a search of his home turned up a phony passport and about $70,000 in cash.

Epstein's attorneys this week again filed an appeal for house arrest.

Epstein was arrested July 6 on federal charges he lured young girls to homes in Manhattan and Florida between 2002 and 2005 for purposes of trafficking. If convicted, he faces 45 years in prison. He served 13 months and registered as a sex offender in an unrelated case in Florida in 2008.