Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs charged with sex trafficking

Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering and accused of presiding over an empire of sexual crimes.

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

Detailing allegations dating back to 2009, the indictment accuses him of abusing, threatening and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct”.

Combs had been arrested late on Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxury homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

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 those allegations and Marc Agnifilo, his lawyer, said outside the courthouse on Tuesday morning that Combs would plead not guilty and that he would “fight like hell” to try to get his client released from custody.

Of Combs, Agnifilo said: “His spirits are good. He’s confident.”

The indictment accuses Combs 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 hide it all.

The indictment describes Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise engaged in or attempting to engage in activities including sex trafficking, forced labour, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offences, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.

Combs, 54, was recognised as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a flood of allegations that emerged over the past year turned him into an industry pariah.

In November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fuelled settings.

The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on the floor. After the video aired, Combs apologised, saying: “I was disgusted when I did it.”

Combs and his attorneys, however, denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits.

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

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

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

In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting 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.