Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs charged with sex trafficking and racketeering

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in an indictment unsealed Tuesday that alleges he beat and abused women for more than a decade and presided over a sordid empire of sex crimes.

The music mogul “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals,” according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.

The indictment details allegations from 2008 that he abused, threatened and coerced women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct.” He is accused of inciting female victims and male sex workers to perform drugged, sometimes days-long sexual performances that the indictment calls “Freak Offs.” It also obliquely refers to an attack on his ex-girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassiethat was captured on video.

Combing laundry arrested late Monday in Manhattan, about six months after federal authorities conducted a sex trafficking investigation luxurious homes have been invaded in Los Angeles and Miami. He was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday to face charges.

Over the past year, Combs has been sued by people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. He has denied many of these allegations, and his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse Tuesday morning that Combs would plead not guilty and that he would “fight like hell” to try to get his client out of custody.

Of Combs, Agnifilo said, “His spirits are good. He is confident.”

The indictment describes Combs, 54, as the head of a criminal enterprise that engaged or attempted to engage in activities including sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for the purpose of prostitution, drug crimes, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice. He is accused of repeatedly punching, hitting and dragging women, throwing and kicking objects, and enlisting his personal assistants, security and housekeeping staff to help him cover it all up.

Combs and his associates used his “power and prestige” to “intimidate, threaten and lure” women in his orbit, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” according to the indictment. It says he would then use violence, threats and coercion to induce the women to collaborate with male sex workers in the “Freak Offs” – “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often recorded.

According to the indictment, he sometimes arranged to fly the women and ensured their participation by purchasing and supplying drugs, controlling their careers, using his financial support, and using intimidation and violence.

The events could last for days, and Combs and victims were often given IV fluids “to recover from the physical exertion and drug use” of “Freak Offs,” according to the indictment. It said its employees facilitated “Freak Offs” by arranging trips, booking hotel rooms where they would take place and stocking those rooms with supplies including medications, baby oil, lubricants, extra bedding and lighting, scheduling the delivery of IV fluids, and then clean the rooms afterwards.

During a search of Combs’ homes in Miami and Los Angeles this year, police seized narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lube, the complaint said. Agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with illegible serial numbers, the complaint said.

It is alleged that, unbeknownst to his victims, Combs sometimes kept his videos of them performing sex acts and used the recordings as “collateral” to guarantee the women’s continued obedience and silence. He also exerted control over the victims by promising career opportunities, providing and threatening to withhold financial support, dictating what they looked like, monitoring their health information and monitoring where they lived, the indictment said.

As the threat of criminal charges loomed, Combs and his associates pressured witnesses and victims to remain silent, including by trying to bribe them and provide them with a false narrative of events, the indictment said.

All this, prosecutors allege, happened behind the facade of Combs’ global music, lifestyle and clothing empire.

Combs was recognized as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a barrage of allegations over the past year made him an industry pariah.

In November, Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit said he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fueled environments.

The suit was arranged within one daybut months later, CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs Ventura punches and kicks and throw her to the ground. After the video aired, Combs apologizedsaying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”

The indictment refers to the attack, without naming Ventura, and says Combs tried to bribe a hotel security guard to keep quiet about it.

Combs and his lawyers denied similar allegations made by others in a series of lawsuits.

Douglas Wigdor, an attorney for Ventura, said in a statement Tuesday that “neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”

“We appreciate your understanding and if that changes we will be sure to let you know,” he added.

A woman said Combs raped her twenty years ago, when she was seventeen. A music producer sued, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters,” beginning while she was still a student in 1994.

The AP generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura and Lampros did.

Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has gotten out of legal trouble before.

In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to the shooting at a Manhattan nightclub two years earlier that injured three people. His then-protege, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges and served about eight years in prison.

Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.