Sean “Diddy” Combs, a three-time Grammy award-winning rapper, was arrested on Monday following an indictment by a grand jury in Manhattan. The music star currently faces racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, in addition to multiple other charges.
The indictment, which was unsealed on Tuesday, claims that Combs “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct.”
ABC 7 reported that Combs’ arrest on Monday comes approximately six months after federal authorities raided his Los Angeles and Miami homes as part of a sex trafficking investigation.
The grand jury indictment states that the 54-year-old music icon used his platform to create “a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, and attempted to engage in, among other crimes, sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and obstruction of justice.”
The indictment claims that Combs “manipulated women to participate in highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity with male commercial sex workers.” According to the indictment, Combs and other individuals under his direction arranged for women and commercial sex workers to fly to the rapper’s location.
The indictment adds, “Combs ensured participation from the women by, among other things, obtaining and distributing narcotics to them, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and threatening to cut off the same, and using intimidation and violence.”
READ MORE: Video: Music star beats girlfriend in graphic video
The indictment against Combs claims that the music icon has “assaulted women by, among other things, striking, punching, dragging, throwing objects at, and kicking them” on “numerous occasions” since 2009. Monday’s grand jury indictment also referenced a video of Combs abusing Cassandra Ventura, his former girlfriend.
On Tuesday, Marc Agnifilo, Combs’ attorney, said that Combs “knew this was coming.” He added, “We brought him to New York two weeks ago because sure we knew this day would come and it’s here.”
According to ABC 7, Combs has faced multiple lawsuits over the past year by individuals who claim to have been subjected to sexual and physical abuse by the music star. Despite the lawsuits, Combs has denied many of the allegations raised against him, and Agnifilo described Monday’s grand jury indictment as an “unjust prosecution” against the rapper.
“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community,” Combs’ legal team said in a statement obtained by ABC 7. “He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal.”
