NEW YORK: Mike Jeffries, the previous longtime chief govt of Abercrombie & Fitch, has been criminally charged with intercourse trafficking and prostitution involving dozens of males.
The 16-count indictment was unveiled on Tuesday (Oct 23) by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn a decade after Jeffries left the retailer he constructed over 22 years into a preferred clothes model recognized for sexually charged advertising and marketing.
It adopted a BBC investigation and proposed class motion lawsuit accusing Jeffries of baiting younger males with the prospect of modelling jobs to lure them into travelling all over the world so that they might be sexually abused.
US Lawyer Breon Peace, whose workplace received a conviction and 30-year jail time period for the singer R Kelly for sex trafficking, mentioned highly effective individuals have for too lengthy sexually abused younger individuals who yearned for careers in vogue and leisure.
“To anybody who thinks they’ll exploit and coerce others by utilizing the so-called casting sofa system, this case ought to function a warning: Put together to commerce that sofa for a mattress in federal jail,” Peace mentioned at a press convention.
The defendants embody Jeffries, 80, his companion Matthew Smith, 61, and James Jacobson, 71, who allegedly recruited males for them.
Every was charged with one depend of intercourse trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution associated to fifteen unnamed victims between 2008 and 2015.
If convicted, they face doable life sentences and obligatory minimal 15-year jail phrases for the intercourse trafficking fees. They withstand 20 years in jail for the interstate prostitution fees.
In separate court docket hearings, Jeffries and Jacobson have been ordered launched on respective bonds of US$10 million and US$500,000. A spokesperson for Peace mentioned they’re anticipated to enter formal pleas on Friday afternoon within the Central Islip, New York federal court docket. Prosecutors need each males subjected to dwelling confinement.
Smith, a twin US-British citizen, was ordered detained at his court docket listening to. Prosecutors need him jailed pending trial, citing the chance of flight.
Jeffries’ lawyer Brian Bieber and Smith’s legal professionals didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark after the hearings. Jeremy Schneider, a lawyer for Jacobson, declined to remark.
Abercrombie additionally declined to remark. It was not accused of wrongdoing, and Peace mentioned there was no proof the alleged crimes befell on firm property.
