Hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges

Rapper and producer Sean "Diddy" Combs faces federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in an indictment, unsealed Tuesday, claiming he hit and abused women for over a decade and presided over a sordid empire of sexual crimes.

The indictment details allegations dating to 2008 that he abused, threatened and coerced women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”

He is accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes days-long sexual performances dubbed “Freak Offs” in the indictment. It also refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video.

Combs was arrested late Monday (16 Septmeber) in a Manhattan hotel lobby, according to a person familiar with the arrest who spoke with AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

This is just the latest chapter in a string of sordid legal troubles for Combs after multiple people have filed lawsuits against the star alleging him of sexual and physical abuse.

Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ lawyer, has said the rapper was cooperating with the ongoing investigation and had relocated to New York in anticipation of the charges.

Agnifilo said they were “disappointed” with the decision and that Combs is “an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal”.

Combs’ criminal charges in New York are an unsurprising escalation from the 25 March raid by Homeland Security Investigation agents on his homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

His attorney Anthony Dyer called the raids a “gross use of military-level force” as Homeland Security served the search warrants in a sex-trafficking investigation.

The first allegations of sexual