Sean “Diddy” Combs Charged with Sex Trafficking and Racketeering

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Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy for running a vast criminal enterprise through which he sexually assaulted and trafficked women since at least 2008.

Federal prosecutors, in an indictment unsealed Tuesday, accused the music mogul of engaging in a “pervasive pattern of abuse” that included assaults and forced sexual encounters with women through his various businesses. He coerced them into having sex by drugging them, threatening their careers and using intimidation and violence, the U.S. attorney's office said.

For decades, Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” the indictment said. Prosecutors charged Combs and his associates with sex trafficking, forced labor, forcing women into prostitution, and distributing narcotics, among other things.

Combs is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning after an arrest the night before following a federal grand jury indictment. His attorney Marc Agnifilo said outside court that Combs will plead not guilty to charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation for prostitution, according to the Associated Press.

Combs has been facing increasing legal trouble, with federal law enforcement raiding his home in March as part of a human trafficking investigation. A lawsuit filed last week by former bandmate Dawn Richard, who accused him of sexual assault and harassment when she was part of a musical trio with the hip-hop mogul, marked the 10th complaint filed against Combs since his ex-girlfriend Casandra Ventura filed a lawsuit against him detailing years of physical and sexual abuse. That suit was settled quickly, but it prompted other accusers, including Liza Gardner, Joi Dickerson-Neal and Crystal McKinney, to file similar complaints. Combs has denied the allegations and has largely said the accusers are seeking restitution.

Those claims were debunked when CNN released hotel security footage in May of Combs assaulting Ventura. The rapper later apologized and said he was “disgusted when I did that,” though he continued to deny other assault allegations.

More will come.

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