Updated: Diddy Charged With Sex Crime
Reports coming in now have it that rap and business mogul, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been arrested.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the rapper was reported on Monday, September 16th, in New York.
The rapper was caught off-guard, Diddy has been for some weeks now staying in a New York hotel, He was arrested at the hotel’s lobby.
The U.S. Attorney’s Demian Williams confirmed the arrest of the rapper in a released statement on Monday evening based on a sealed indictment filed by the Southern District of New York. Williams also added that the indictment will be unsealed in the morning and by that time, they will have more information to share.
Combs’ attorney Marc Agnifilo expressed disappointment in a statement. He said Combs, 54, had been cooperative with the investigation and “voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges.”
The attorney in his statement described Diddy as a loving family man and philanthropist who spent years building his empire. The statement also asks the general public to please reserve their judgments until they have all the facts as it claims that the rapper is an imperfect person but not a criminal.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr. Combs by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 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.” The statement said.
“He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal. To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges.” It continued.
The statement ended by asking the public to “Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts. These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
It was not immediately clear on what charges Combs, the rapper-turned-music mogul, was arrested.
This new development adds up to the rapper’s legal battles, there have been several allegations against the rapper but he has denied all of them.
In recent times, the rapper, Just last week on September 11, Dawn Richard, a participant on MTV’s “Making the Band” and a longtime member of Combs’ groups, filed a new lawsuit against the rapper claiming years of harassment and abuse under “inhumane working conditions.”
Recall that on Nov. 16, singer Cassie filed a lawsuit in New York against Diddy, whom she dated on-again-off-again from 2007 to 2018. She accused the musician of raping and abusing her over the course of their decade-long relationship.
One day after she filed the lawsuit, the two reached a settlement with no details about the settlement being made public. An attorney for Combs clarified that settling the case was not an admission of guilt, and Combs has consistently denied the allegations.
Shortly after, on Nov. 23, a woman named Joi Dickerson-Neal accused Diddy of drugging and raping her when she was a college student at Syracuse University in 1991, according to the court documents.
The following day, November 24, another lady accused Combs and his friend Aaron Hall of raping her. The complainant, Liza Gardner, filed an updated complaint in February, revealing that she was 16 years old at the time of the alleged assault in New York City in 1990. In 1990, the age of consent for sexual intercourse in New York was 17 years.
On December 6, one woman alleged that the rapper, his longtime associate Harve Pierre, and a third unidentified guy sex trafficked and gang-raped her when she was 17 years old in 2003, according to court filings.
Combs’ legal troubles worsened in March when federal agents raided his houses in Miami and Los Angeles. These searches were carried out in response to allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and the illicit sale of drugs and firearms.
The warrants were issued by the Southern District of New York, indicating that federal agents are heavily involved in the investigation. According to NBC News, detectives have examined many people involved in the charges, adding to the gravity of Combs’ position.
Less than a week later, Combs was accused of drugging and sexually abusing Crystal McKinney. McKinney claimed in her May 21 lawsuit that she was 22 years old when she met Combs, who led her to a toilet and began forcing himself on her, and kissed her without her consent. He then allegedly shoved her head down into his crotch and forced her to have oral sex with him.
