On March 14th, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs made a reappearance in federal court in New York regarding his lengthy indictment. According to court records, the disgraced rapper pleaded not guilty to all his charges, which include multiple sex trafficking crimes spanning over a period of 20 years.
Combs, who is now 55 years old, was arrested in September of 2024. Since then, he’s been held without bail at Sunset Park’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
According to the charges laid out in the indictment, Diddy is accused of using his fame and prestige to lure women into his sphere of influence. Often, it’s reported that he’d promise to engage in romantic relationships with these women. Once he had them within his grasp, he’d become threatening and coercive, making his female victims engage in commercial sex acts. His victims were reportedly threatened, physically harmed, verbally abused, and manipulated repeatedly.
In one situation, Diddy apparently held a victim over an apartment balcony to force her to do what he wanted. In another case, he threw objects at a victim before dragging, choking, and shoving them.
In one video that went public after Diddy’s arrest, the singer can be seen aggressively hitting and dragging an ex-girlfriend. Diddy’s legal team, however, argues that the video is deceptive and altered. The legal team stated that certain actions in the public version of the film were sped up as much as 50%, and other actions were taken out of order to make Diddy look worse.
Despite all these allegations, Diddy and his legal team are adamant that all the sex acts that occurred were consensual.
During his court appearance, Diddy reportedly hugged his lawyers, waved at family members, and blew kisses to the gallery at the court as he was led out of the courtroom.
What To Do If You Get Arrested for Sex Crimes
Like in Diddy’s case, one of the top defense strategies in sex crime cases is arguing that consent was mutual. Almost all sex crimes require one party’s lack of consent as the basis for the charges, with the exception of crimes that occur against populations that are unable to consent legally.
Determining your best legal defense strategy after you’ve been charged with sex crimes is critical. If you do get convicted of a sex crime, then you’ll have to face not only the criminal penalties, but you’ll also have to publicly get added to the sex offender registry, too. This list has your photograph, address, and a description of your charges, and it’s accessible to anyone. Once you’re on this registry, you’ll likely have to avoid certain professions and areas where children are present.
Schedule a confidential call with our team of experienced New York City attorneys now to discuss your potential criminal situation.
Our firm has over a decade of experience handling sex crime cases, so we’re confident that we can help you determine your best legal options moving forward.
