Tag Archives: sex trafficking

Bloomberg News reports: The Trump administration is “decommissioning” a Department of Justice unit that has long been at the center of dismantling transnational organized crime networks, drug cartels and human trafficking rings. Leaders of the unit, called the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, or OCDETF, were told they had until Sept. 30 to shut down operations, people familiar with …

ABC News reports: Jury selection starts Monday in the sex trafficking trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs, beginning the first courtroom test of whether one of hip-hop’s most important figures used power and wealth amassed in the music, clothing and spirits industries to sexually abuse, coerce and exploit alleged victims for decades. Combs, who once proclaimed himself “Bad Boy for Life,” …

Boise’s ABC affiliate reports: Gregory Wayne Jones, a director of operations at a daycare, preschool, and after-school center in Mountain Home, was arrested on Friday, April 25 by deputies with the Elmore County Sheriff’s Department on charges of “human sex trafficking” and “sexual penetration with a foreign object.” His bail is currently set at $5 million. According to a police …

People Magazine reports: Criminal charges have reportedly been filed against the actor Jean-Claude Van Damme in Romania. A criminal complaint was filed with the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) against the Streetfighter star, 64, alleging that he knowingly engaged in sexual relations with women trafficked by a criminal group led by Morel Bolea, according to CNN …

The Associated Press reports: Defense lawyers say the former longtime CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch may have dementia, and a competency hearing is necessary to determine if he can face sex charges. Lawyers for Michael Jeffries said in court papers unsealed Monday in federal court in Central Islip on Long Island that a neuropsychologist who examined Jeffries in October concluded …

The House Ethics Committee writes: On December 23, 2024, the Committee on Ethics (Committee) released the attached Report regarding allegations relating to Representative Matt Gaetz. The Committee previously noted that there has been a significant and unusual amount of reporting on its activities during its review of the matter of Representative Gaetz, and much of that reporting has been inaccurate. …

Mediaite reports: Matt Gaetz filed a suit against the House Ethics Committee on Monday seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the public release of a scathing report resulting from an investigation into allegations of his sexual and drug misconduct. According to CBS congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane, Gaetz’s argued in his bid for a restraining order to block the report’s …

CBS News reports: Former Rep. Matt Gaetz was found by congressional ethics investigators to have paid numerous women — including a 17-year-old girl — for sex, and to have purchased and used illegal drugs, including from his Capitol Hill office, according to a final draft of a comprehensive investigative report obtained by CBS News. Those were among the findings of …

“Republican senators, we, the voters of this movement, will not accept the answer that you voted for Joe Biden’s nominees like Lloyd Austin but refuse Trump’s. “Many have asked which perch I will be fighting from next. And some of you throughout this conference have even given me a few suggestions. “My fellow Floridians have asked me to eye the …

Raw Story reports: Outgoing Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is not taking news that the House Ethics Committee will release what is expected to be a highly damaging report on him before Christmas lightly, and has posted a warning to his soon-to-be ex-colleagues on X on Wednesday afternoon. After posting a long screed on X earlier professing his innocence while also …

NBC News reports: Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., is forcing a floor vote this week to require the House Ethics Committee to release a report on its yearslong investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. Casten introduced a resolution that would force the bipartisan ethics panel to act. Because the resolution is “privileged,” it must be brought to the floor within …

The Hill reports: Former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) time in Congress may be over, but the saga over the House Ethics Committee’s report on its years-long investigation into him is in its final act. Two Democrats who moved to force votes requiring the Ethics panel to release its report have signaled they will continue that push, which could tee up …

The Daily Beast reports: Sean “Diddy” Combs is using the “But Donald Trump” defense in his latest bid for a bail release in time for Thanksgiving. Combs’ lawyers have already tried several times to get the incarcerated ex-mogul out on bail. But when prosecutors argued against his latest attempt, making the case that Combs had been trying to influence jurors …

The Daily Beast reports: A top Democratic representative is turning up the pressure on the House Ethics Committee to release a report into allegations of sex trafficking and other crimes leveled at former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz. Undeterred by Gaetz’s recent withdrawal from both Congress and the running to be Donald Trump’s attorney general, Sean Casten (D-IL) spoke with MSNBC …

The Associated Press reports: Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. told Fox Business on Sunday that the transition team had backups in mind for his controversial nominees should they fail to get confirmed. The swift selection of Bondi came about six hours after Gaetz withdrew. Gaetz posted on social media that he looks “forward to continuing the fight to save our …

ABC News reports: An attorney representing two women who testified before the House Ethics Committee told ABC News in an interview former Rep. Matt Gaetz paid both his adult clients for sex. Florida attorney Joel Leppard told ABC News that one of his clients also witnessed Gaetz having sex with a third woman — who was then 17 years old …

The Birmingham News reports: An Alabama youth pastor is facing sex trafficking charges in Florida after he allegedly sex trafficked a girl in multiple states. Stephen Johnson, 40, whom prosecutors said has volunteered as a youth pastor at an unnamed Birmingham church for more than a decade, met the victim on social media when she was 12 years old and …

CNBC reports: Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested in Florida and faces sex trafficking-related charges, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York told CNBC on Tuesday. Two of Jeffries’ associates, Matthew Smith of West Palm Beach, Florida, and James Jacobson of Wisconsin, have also been charged. The criminal case comes a year …

ABC News reports: Federal prosecutors have denied leaking the hotel security camera video that showed Sean “Diddy” Combs attacking his then-girlfriend Casandra Ventura at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Combs had accused federal agents and prosecutors of unlawfully leaking the footage in a court filing on Wednesday. The video was obtained by CNN in May and Combs acknowledged its …

NBC News reports: Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing dozens of new allegations of sexual assault in a series of lawsuits set to be filed. At a news conference held Tuesday, Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee said he is representing 120 accusers with allegations against the entertainment mogul that occurred over 20 years. “We will expose the enablers who enabled this conduct …