NEW YORK — According to an indictment released Tuesday, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs presided over a dark empire of sexual crimes, coercing and abusing women for years, threatening them to keep them in line, and employing a slew of subordinates to cover it up.

The music mogul “engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse towards women and other individuals,” including physical violence, “to fulfil his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” according to the indictment.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Has Been Indicted On Sex Trafficking And Racketeering Charges

It recounts him enticing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, often day-long sexual acts known as “Freak Offs.” It also alludes to an attack on his former girlfriend, R&B singer Cassie, that was caught on film.

Combs was detained late Monday in Manhattan, some six months after federal agents raided his luxury mansions in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a sex trafficking probe. He was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon, and his three sons arrived early to observe.

Prosecutors said they will seek to detain Combs until trial. His attorney, Marc Agnifilo, stated outside the courthouse Tuesday morning that he will fight to keep Combs free, that he is innocent, and that he will plead not guilty.

“His spirits are good. He’s confident,” said the attorney, who added that Combs came to New York deliberately to “join the legal system and begin the case.”

According to the indictment, Combs, the 54-year-old founder of Bad Boy Records, led a criminal enterprise that engaged or attempted to engage in sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for prostitution, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.

He’s accused of beating, punching, and dragging women, as well as throwing and kicking them — and then using his personal assistants, security, and household staff to cover it up.

“The evidence in this case is incredibly powerful,” prosecutors wrote in a request for Combs’ custody. They stated that they had questioned over 50 victims and witnesses and expected the number to increase.

According to the indictment, Combs and his colleagues used their “power and prestige” to intimidate and lure women into his sphere, frequently under the guise of a romantic relationship. He would then use force, threats, and intimidation to induce the women to engage with male sex workers in the “Freak Offs” – “elaborate and produced sex performances” that Combs prepared, directed, masturbated during, and frequently videotaped, resulting in dozens of tapes.

According to the indictment, he occasionally arranged for the ladies to fly in and assured their participation by obtaining and administering narcotics, influencing their employment, leveraging his financial assistance, and employing intimidation and violence.

The events may last several days, and Combs and victims would frequently get IV fluids to recover from the exertion and drug usage, according to the indictment. It stated that his employees supported “Freak Offs” by arranging trips, booking hotel rooms, equipping them with supplies such as medicines and baby oil, scheduling IV fluid deliveries, and cleaning the rooms afterwards.

According to prosecutors, police officials recovered cocaine, films of the “Freak Offs” and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant during a search of Combs’ houses in Miami and Los Angeles this year. They said authorities also recovered firearms and ammo, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers, two of which were shattered into pieces in his Miami bedroom closet.

The indictment describes Combs as a violent guy who choked and shoved victims, slapped and kicked them, and sometimes pulled them by their hair, resulting in injuries that took days or weeks to heal. According to the indictment, his employees and accomplices sometimes observed his brutality and either prevented victims from fleeing or followed down those who did.

It claims that Combs occasionally stored tapes of victims performing sex acts and used the recordings as “collateral” to ensure the women’s continued obedience and silence. According to the accusation, he reportedly exerted control over victims by offering professional possibilities, providing and threatening to withhold financial support, dictating how they appeared, monitoring their health records, and regulating their living arrangements.

According to the indictment, Combs and his colleagues encouraged witnesses and victims to remain silent by paying bribes and providing misleading accounts of what transpired.

All of this, prosecutors claim, was taking place behind the scenes of Combs’ global music, lifestyle, and clothing empire.

“A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was awarded the keys to New York City. “He was indicted today and will face justice,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference on Tuesday. His office is filing the case.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Has Been Indicted On Sex Trafficking And Racketeering Charges

Combs relinquished the key in June after Mayor Eric Adams asked for it back.

Combs was regarded as one of hip-hop’s most important personalities before a slew of allegations surfaced over the last year.

Cassie, whose official name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit in November, alleging that he had battered and raped her over the years. She accused Combs of coercing her and others into having unwanted intercourse in drug-fueled circumstances.

The lawsuit was settled in one day, but months later, CNN published hotel security footage of Combs punching, kicking, and throwing Ventura to the floor. After the tape was released, Combs apologised, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”

The indictment refers to the attack without name Ventura and claims Combs attempted to bribe a hotel security guard to keep quiet about it.

Douglas Wigdor, Ventura’s lawyer, declined to comment Tuesday.

Combs and his counsel refuted identical claims made by others in a series of cases.

A lady claimed Combs raped her at the age of 17 two decades ago. A music producer sued Combs, claiming he was compelled to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, claimed Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters” beginning when she was a college student in 1994.

The Associated Press does not normally name persons who claim to have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Ventura and Lampros did.

Combs has already faced legal issues. Notably, he was acquitted in 2001 of firearms charges stemming from a Manhattan nightclub shooting two years prior that injured three people.

SOURCE | AP