Disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein visited Harvard University dozens of times after his conviction and was given his own office at the site, a review has found.
Epstein was jailed in 2008 for procuring an underage girl for prostitution and many of Harvard’s top leaders cut ties with him after that.
But a report found he maintained close ties with Martin Nowak, the director of a research centre at the university which was part funded by Epstein.
Epstein frequently visited Office 610, which was known as Jeffrey’s Office, and met with scholars to hear about their work, the review found.
The review, completed at the request of Harvard’s president, also found that the university accepted more than 9 million dollars (£7.2 million) from Epstein during the decade leading up to his conviction but barred him from making further donations after that point.
About 200,000 dollars (£160,000) of that funding remains unspent, the school said, and will be given to groups that support victims of sexual violence.
He had pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing girls as young as 14 and young women in New York and Florida in the early 2000s.
Mr Nowak has been placed on paid administrative leave while officials review allegations of misconduct detailed in the report.
Claudine Gay, dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said: “We do not take this step lightly, but the seriousness of the matter leads us to believe it is not appropriate for Professor Nowak to continue in his role.”
Among other allegations against Mr Nowak, the report alleged that he allowed his program’s website to be used to burnish Epstein’s reputation after his 2008 conviction.
Harvard President Lawrence Bacow called for the review in September 2019 amid public outcry over the university’s relationship with Epstein.
Other schools have faced similar scrutiny, including nearby Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which revealed in January that Epstein donated 750,000 dollars (£600,000) and visited the campus at least nine times after his conviction.
