What You Need to Know About the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Charges

Disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing federal charges of human trafficking and racketeering in an indictment made public Tuesday.

He was arrested Monday in New York 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.

Before the charges were made public, Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo said they knew what the charges would be and that Combs “is innocent of these charges.”

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 didn’t do this all by himself,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “He used his company and his employees and other close associates to get what he wanted.”

Williams also said that Combs’ employees were involved in organizing and arranging the “Freak Offs,” often providing materials, cleaning hotel rooms after the meetings and helping cover up the attacks.

The racketeering conspiracy charge is notorious for its efforts to bring down the Mafia and drug cartels.

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.

Another court document details several other violent and intimidating acts that Combs and his associates committed, including kidnapping a person at gunpoint and cutting open the convertible top of a car to throw a Molotov cocktail inside, causing the car to explode. The document also says that police reports, fire department reports and witnesses can all corroborate these incidents.

The investigation is ongoing, more arrests are possible

Prosecutors say they have interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses of Combs’ abuse, but they expect more people to come forward with their stories.

Given the ongoing investigation, prosecutors cannot release certain details, including information about witnesses who have testified or will testify.

Williams said Tuesday that he wants Combs arrested while he awaits trial. In response to a question about whether Combs’ associates or associates will face charges, Williams said he “can’t take anything off the table.”

“Our investigation is still ongoing and active,” he added.

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