BUFFALO, N.Y. — Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said, "A year ago Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City, today he's been indicted."
The federal charges include racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.
Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested in a New York hotel lobby. Federal prosecutors say between 2008 and now, he threatened and coerced victims for sex, and used his business empire to carry out sex trafficking, kidnapping, and even arson. The indictment says he planned and controlled sexual performances called "Freak Offs."
"The freak-offs sometimes lasted days at a time, involved multiple commercial sex workers, and often involved a variety of narcotics such as ketamine, ecstasy, and GHB, which Combs distributed to the victim to keep them obedient and compliant. As alleged, when Combs didn't get his way, he was violent."
Kelly Diane Galloway, founder of Project Mona's House, works with victims of human trafficking.
"You will hear women talk about their experiences being bought and sold for crazy parties or how people are referring to it now, like, freak off, where individuals are coming to a place and you might think it's one thing and then before you know it, it's like 30 different people who want to take part in your abuse."
"I was born in the 80's. I'm a 90s kid. I mean, it's literally one of your heroes, somebody that's been funding so many initiatives, especially in our communities, like it's like one of your heroes falling down from a huge pedestal, not because of something that somebody else did to him, but decisions and choices that he made on his own," Galloway said.
Her advice for victims is, "It's nothing that they did that deserves for individuals to feel entitled to purchase them, to sell them, that their bodies are not commodities to be bought and sold. That freedom is not a privilege, but it is their right, their God-given birthright."