A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday denied Jeffrey Epstein's request to be released on bail ahead of a trial on child sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

U.S. Judge Richard M. Berman of the Southern District of New York ruled that Epstein, a  financier and convicted sex offender, rejected a proposed bail package from Epstein's lawyers that would have allowed Epstein to wait out the trial at his townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Epstein, his lawyers said, was willing to post up to a $100 million bond, secured by a mortgage on his Upper East Side home, as well as his private jet. Prosecutors, however, argued that Epstein's immense wealth and criminal history made him a danger to the community and a threat to flee the country.

Epstein has been accused of running an underage sex ring out of his homes in Florida and New York, paying minors for sex acts and to recruit more girls to his operation. Epstein pleaded guilty to two state prostitution charges in 2008, following a separate investigation into similar allegations in the Southern District of Florida.

This is a developing story.