‘Diddy’ Combs indicted on sex crime charges
NEW YORK • Sean “Diddy” Combs presided over a sordid empire of sexual crimes, coercing and abusing women for years, threatening to keep them in line and enlisting a cast of aides to cover it up, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
The music mogul “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals,” including violence, in order “to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation and conceal his conduct, the indictment said.
It describes him inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes days-long sexual performances dubbed “Freak Offs.” It also refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video.
Combs was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami. He was due in court Tuesday afternoon. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said Combs would plead not guilty.
The indictment describes Combs, 54, the founder of Bad Boy Records, as the head of a criminal enterprise that engaged or attempted to engage in sex trafficking, forced labour, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offences, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.
“The evidence in this case is incredibly powerful,” prosecutors said.
Combs wielded his “power and prestige” to intimidate and lure women into his orbit, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” the indictment says. It says he then would use force, threats and coercion to get the women to engage with male sex workers in the “Freak Offs” — “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often recorded, creating dozens of videos.
The events could last for days, and Combs and victims would often receive IV fluids to recover from the exertion and drug use, the indictment said. During the searches of Combs’ homes, police seized narcotics, videos of the “Freak Offs” and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to prosecutors. They said agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15S with defaced serial numbers — two of them broken into parts.
The indictment alleges Combs used the recordings of victims engaging in sex acts to ensure the women’s obedience and silence.