New criminal indictment handed down against Sean 'Diddy' Combs in sex trafficking case
Federal prosecutors add 2 more victims to music mogul's original indictment, bringing total number of victims in lawsuit to 3
HOUSTON, United States
The list of alleged victims in music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs' criminal sex trafficking case grew to three Thursday as federal prosecutors amended a new indictment which listed two additional female accusers, according to media reports.
The three-count indictment alleges that Combs trafficked at least three women during a 20-year-long sexual abuse scheme that traveled across state lines and internationally. The women were allegedly transported along with other commercial sex workers involved in the sex trafficking ring.
Combs, 55, was originally indicted last September with only one female victim listed in the charges, which included racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution.
The new indictment accuses Combs of coercing two additional women into performing commercial sex acts.
Prosecutors said Combs used his business empire, including his record label Bad Boy Entertainment, to sexually abuse women and for trafficking them for sex work, which included having women take part in recorded sexual performances with male sex workers.
The victim listed in the original indictment is Combs' former girlfriend, Casandra Ventura, and she remains the only named plaintiff in the case. The other two women are listed without their names in the new indictment with accusations supporting the charges of racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution, according to court documents.
Combs apologized publicly to Ventura last May after CNN aired a video showing him kicking, shoving and dragging Ventura in a hotel hallway. His legal team said Combs never denied the incident and that the video was not evidence of sex trafficking.
Combs has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and has denied all of the accusations.
He has been behind bars at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center in the state of New York since his September arrest.
Combs is scheduled to stand trial on May 5.
He is also named in at least 30 civil lawsuits accusing him of sex crimes.
