Sean 'Diddy' Combs hit with new indictment in sex trafficking case
Sean "Diddy" Combs "abused, threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires" over a longer period of time than first alleged, federal prosecutors in New York said in a superseding indictment filed Thursday.
The indictment contains no new charged crimes but includes additional conduct as part of the alleged racketeering conspiracy, which prosecutors now say spanned a longer time frame of about 20 years, from 2004-2024.
Prosecutors also included additional victims of Combs' alleged sex trafficking.
The superseding indictment said Combs assaulted not only women but also "his employees, witnesses to his abuse and others."
That alleged violence was most vivid in a video of Combs kicking, dragging and throwing a vase at his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura inside a Los Angeles hotel. The superseding indictment said Combs, with the assistance of several close associates, paid hotel security staff $100,000 for the footage.
The superseding indictment alleged Combs used force, coercion and threats to cause at least three female victims, identified only by number, "to engage in commercial sex acts." Something he referred to as "Freak Offs" but others "involved only Combs and a female victim," according to the indictment.
"Like the Freak Offs, these commercial sex acts involving Combs and a female victim were prearranged, sometimes lasted multiple days, were sometimes electronically recorded by Combs and often involved Combs distributing a variety of controlled substances to the victim, in part to keep the victim obedient and compliant," the new indictment said.
Combs did not immediately respond to the new indictment but has previously pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and prostitution charges, is scheduled for trial on May 5. Prosecutors said the new indictment should not affect the timing of the trial.
"The latest Indictment contains no new offenses. The prosecution's theory remains flawed. The government has added the ridiculous theory that two of Mr. Combs' former girlfriends were not girlfriends at all but were prostitutes. Mr. Combs is as committed as ever to fighting these charges and winning at trial," defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said in a statement to ABC News.
Last month Combs abandoned an attempt to be released on bail. Combs has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since he was arrested in September.
