UPDATE 1-Jean-Luc Brunel, who knew Jeffrey Epstein, in custody-prosecutor

(Adds confirmation from Paris' prosecutor)

PARIS, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Frenchman Jean-Luc Brunel - who knew deceased sex offender and U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein - was placed in custody on Wednesday in Paris, the Paris prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

The department also told Reuters that his custody was part of a probe opened last year into allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

Brunel, who has denied any wrongdoing, had in 2015 sued Epstein, claiming Epstein's high-profile legal troubles had unfairly embroiled him and damaged his modelling agency's reputation. (https://reut.rs/37u93U1)

Epstein died in August 2019 in his jail cell in the United States, and an autopsy report concluded he hanged himself. (Reporting by Matthieu Protard and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Alison Williams and Alex Richardson)