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Sept. 12 (UPI) -- French police are asking for victims and witnesses to come forward to help investigators with their probe into alleged sex crimes committed against French citizens by disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The French National Police made the appeal on Twitter Wednesday, providing a phone number and an interior ministry email for witnesses and victims to contact concerning the ongoing police investigation that began Aug. 23.
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"Specialized police officers are mobilized," the tweet said.
The public appeal is the result of interviews with three people who came forward to French police following the start of the preliminary investigation into Epstein for alleged sexual assault committed against minors under 15 years of age and other crimes, the Paris prosecutor's office said in a statement, CNN reported.
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Si vous avez été victime ou témoin, contactez: 06 83 67 43 57 [email protected] pic.twitter.com/gkhSsDRNyU— Police nationale (@PoliceNationale) September 11, 2019 " target="_blank">
The statement said investigators interviewed the victims on Aug. 27, Sept. 3 and Sept. 9.
News of the investigation comes weeks after two French government ministers requested a probe into the Epstein's activities in France, where he reportedly owned property.
Epstein, 66, died by suicide in a New York prison on Aug. 10 while he was awaiting trial for charges of sex trafficking minor girls. He was accused of abusing dozens of girls from 2002 to 2005.
Secretary of Equality Marlene Schiappa and Secretary of State for Child Protection Adrien Taquet said in a joint statement in August that Epstein's death "must not deprive the victims of the justice to which they are entitled."
"[Justice] is an essential condition for their reconstruction, it is also a condition for more effective protection for the future of other young people," the pair said.
