Update: Sean "Diddy" Combs has been indicted on charges of federal sex trafficking and racketeering.
According to the indictment, Combs “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals.” The indictment covers a period between 2008 to the present, alleging Combs abused, threatened and coerced women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
The Associated Press reports that the indictment paints Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise that "engaged or attempted to engage in activities including sex trafficking, forced labour, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice."
Combs is accused of "striking, punching and dragging women on numerous occasions, throwing objects and kicking them — and enlisting his personal assistants, security and household staff to help him hide it all."
The indictment alleges Combs and his team used “power and prestige” to “intimidate, threaten, and lure” women into his world, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship.” He would then use force, threaten and coerce women to engage in “elaborate and produced sex performances” with male sex workers known as "Freak Offs" that Combs "arranged, directed, masturbated during and often recorded."
Combs allegedly arranged to have the women flown in, procuring and providing drugs for them in order to control their careers, and using his financial support, intimidation and violence as leverage. Some of the incidents lasted for days, requiring the victims to be administered IV fluids “to recover from the physical exertion and drug use.”
The indictment adds that Combs is said to have kept videos of the sexual acts as “collateral,” as a way of keeping his victims silent. However, in recent months, as the criminal charges were anticipated, Combs and his associates are said to have pressured witnesses and victims from the incidents to remain silent by attempting to bribe them.
Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested Monday night (September 16) and is expected to appear before a federal judge in New York today (September 17) following his indictment on undisclosed criminal charges.
The arrest was scheduled for today, however, federal agents brought him in early based on a sealed indictment filed by the Southern District of New York.
Combs was arrested at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan and taken into custody by Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, which investigates organized crimes such as human trafficking, drug smuggling and terrorism.
Over the past year, Combs has been sued by numerous people claiming they were subjected to physical and/or sexual abuse by the music mogul, after his ex-girlfriend, R&B star Cassie accused him of beating and raping her throughout their relationship. Days later the two reached a settlement to resolve the case.
Monday night his lawyer Marc Agnifilo, issued a statement saying, “We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the US Attorney’s Office. [Combs] is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal.”
Back in March, Combs' homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided by HSI as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation.