|The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a man who was in custody at the Falkenburg Road Jail.

John Robert Esler, 71, was found in medical distress inside his cell Monday shortly before 11 p.m., according to a sheriff’s office news release.

Esler was taken to the jail’s medical unit before being moved to Tampa General Hospital. His condition worsened the next morning, and he was pronounced dead about 3 p.m. Tuesday.

The Medical Examiner’s Office is working to determine Esler’s cause of his death.

Esler was arrested in March 2024 on charges of sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation of a person younger than 12, and he was being held without bail, records show. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and his case was still pending at the time of his

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