Disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in an indictment made public Tuesday. He was arrested in New York on Monday after being indicted by a federal grand jury. The arrest and charges come after a months-long investigation into sex trafficking and 10 months after a flood of women came forward with allegations of sexual and other abuse.
Below are key details of the three-count indictment.
Suspected attacks date back to 2008
The indictment contains graphic details about Combs allegedly assaulting multiple women since 2008. He is accused of “verbal, emotional, physical and sexual” abuse and of “punching, kicking, throwing objects and sometimes dragging victims by their hair” in attacks that “took days or weeks to heal.”
In much of the indictment, investigators said Combs orchestrated sexual encounters between his victims and male sex workers that he called “Freak Offs” — defined in the indictment as “elaborate and produced sexual performances that Combs organized, directed, masturbated to, and often electronically recorded.”
Authorities said the encounters sometimes lasted for days and often involved multiple commercial sex workers, with Combs drugging the participants to “keep the victims obedient and compliant.” The raids on Combs' homes in Los Angeles and Miami resulted in the seizure of supplies for the “Freak Offs,” including drugs and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, prosecutors said.
Combs accused of directing criminal enterprise
The indictment alleges that Combs and others he was associated with were members of a criminal organization that engaged in various illegal activities, including sex trafficking, forced labor, prostitution-related transportation and coercion, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice. Combs is accused of directing the criminal operations, and the indictment says those who worked for him, including security guards, housekeepers, personal assistants and “high-level supervisors,” were all part of the criminal enterprise, either knowingly or unknowingly.
Prosecutors say the group surrounding Combs attempted to maintain and protect Combs' power through violent means, including the use of firearms, threats of violence, coercion, and verbal, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
Combs intimidated victims to remain silent, prosecutors say
Combs carried or brandished firearms to “intimidate or threaten others,” including victims and witnesses of his attacks, the indictment said. In raids on his homes in Los Angeles and Miami, law enforcement said they found weapons and ammunition, including three AR-15s with “mutilated” serial numbers.
The indictment also accuses Combs of preying on his victims' desires to pursue careers in the music industry by using his money and influence to exploit them. Officials also said Combs used recordings of the “Freak Offs” to prevent victims from coming forward. Combs also controlled his victims' housing, tracked their locations, dictated their appearance, monitored their medical records and supplied them with drugs, investigators said.
