Judge orders Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs to be jailed over sex trafficking charges

Sean “Diddy” Combs is heading to jail to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case, after a judge ordered him to be held without bail in a case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes.

The music mogul pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. He is accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes days-long sexual performances dubbed “Freak Offs”.

The indictment against him also refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video.

Prosecutors wanted him jailed. His attorneys proposed that he be released on a 50 million dollars bond to home detention with electronic monitoring.

US Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky sided with the government.

Combs, 54, was led out of court without being handcuffed.

The Bad Boy Records founder is accused of striking, punching and dragging women, throwing objects and kicking them — and getting his personal assistants, security and household staff to help him hide it all.

“Not guilty,” Combs told a court, standing to speak after listening to the allegations with his uncuffed hands folded in his lap.

Federal prosecutors called Combs dangerous.

“Mr Combs physically and sexually abused victims for decades. He used the vast resources of his company to facilitate his abuse and cover up his crimes. Simply put, he is a serial abuser and a serial obstructor,” Assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson told a court.

She also said he had “extensive and exhaustive history of obstruction of justice,” including alleged bribery and witness intimidation.

His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, acknowledged Combs was “not a perfect person”.

“There has been drug use. He has been in toxic relationships,” Mr Agnifilo told the court.

The lawyer said Combs was receiving “treatment and therapy for things that he needs treatment and therapy for.”

Mr Agnifilo had said outside court earlier that Combs is innocent, and he argued in court that “the evidence in this case is extremely problematic.”

He maintained that the case stemmed from one long-term, consensual relationship that faltered amid infidelity. He did not name the woman, but the details matched those of Combs’ decade-long involvement with Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura.

The “Freak Offs,” Mr Agnifilo contended, were an expansion of that relationship, and not coercive.

“Is it sex trafficking? Not if everybody wants to be there,” Mr Agnifilo said, arguing that authorities were intruding on his client’s private life.

Prosecutors, however, said in court papers that they had interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses and expect the number to grow.

They said they would use financial, travel and billing records, electronic data and communications and videos of the “Freak Offs” to prove their case.

Combs nodded his head at times as his lawyer spoke and occasionally leaned over to converse with them when they were not. The impresario watched other parts of the proceeding expressionlessly, looking straight ahead.

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

A conviction on every charge in the indictment would require a mandatory 15 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence.

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

Combs and his associates wielded his “power and prestige” to intimidate and lure women into his orbit, “often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,” the indictment says.

He sometimes arranged to fly the women in and ensured their participation by procuring and providing drugs, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and using intimidation and violence, according to the indictment.

The events could last for days, and Combs and victims would often receive IV fluids to recover from the exertion and drug use, the indictment said.

It said his employees facilitated “Freak Offs” by arranging travel, booking hotel rooms, stocking them with such supplies as drugs and baby oil, scheduling the delivery of IV fluids and cleaning the rooms afterwards.

In November, 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-fueled settings.

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

The indictment refers to the attack, without naming Ventura, and says Combs tried to bribe a hotel security staffer to stay quiet about it.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Ventura, declined to comment on Tuesday.

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