'Diddy' Charges Allege Sex Trafficking, 'Freak Offs'

Federal prosecutors unsealed felony charges against Sean "Diddy" Combs on Tuesday that could see the rapper jailed for decades should he be convicted, reports TMZ.

• The 54-year-old is charged with racketeering; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. As the AP puts it, prosecutors make the case that he "presided over a sordid empire of sexual crimes." Combs was arrested Monday night in Manhattan.
• Prosecutors say he "threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires" for years, per NBC News.

• One big detail is that Combs is alleged to have staged what he called "Freak Offs" lasting days in which he would coerce women to have sex with male commercial sex workers. "Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during, and often electronically recorded" these events, according to court documents. The events were allegedly fueled by drugs and so taxing on participants that IV drips were frequently required, say prosecutors.
• The hip-hop mogul "engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of abuse toward women and other individuals," the indictment reads, per the AP. Combs used the leverage of his money and clout, along with false promises of romantic relationships, to lure women into his orbit, say prosecutors.
• Combs' sprawling business empire, which turned him into a billionaire, has been taking a hit amid a recent barrage of lawsuits alleging sexual and physical abuse, including by ex-girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura. The feds are seeking to recover "significant financial assets" as part of the case against him, notes NBC.

(More Sean Combs stories.)