NEW CASTLE, Ind. (AP) — Indiana State Police are investigating the death of a convicted child molester who was found unconscious at the bottom of a staircase at the state prison in New Castle.

Police say 37-year-old Jeremiah K. Taylor of Ligonier in northern Indiana died Friday at an Indianapolis hospital. The Star Press of Muncie reports investigators say Taylor's injuries did not come from an accident but that he was beaten shortly before he was found late Thursday night.

Taylor had been held at the prison about 40 miles east of Indianapolis since July.

Taylor was sentenced to eight years in prison last June after he pleaded guilty to charges he molested a preschooler.

Officials say a large segment of the prison's inmates are sex offenders.