Tag Archives: sex trafficking

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 …

People Magazine reports: Sean “Diddy” Combs is on suicide watch as he awaits trial in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, sources tell PEOPLE. Combs, 54, was arrested at a Manhattan hotel on the night of Monday, Sept. 16. The next day, his indictment was unsealed, revealing that he’s charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. MDC, which …

The New York Times reports: A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Sean Combs to remain in jail until his trial for sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, rejecting an appeal by the music mogul’s lawyers requesting that he be released on bail. At Mr. Combs’s arraignment on Tuesday, a magistrate judge rejected Mr. Combs’s bail request and ordered him detained, citing …

Variety reports: After months of accusations of sexual misconduct and other allegations, Sean “Diddy” Combs was charged Tuesday on three counts: racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution, according to legal documents. He is expected to appear before a judge Tuesday morning, where the charges will be read. His lawyer, …

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Driving marked police cruisers and dressed in business attire, Louisiana State Police agents arrived at the headquarters of the Archdiocese of New Orleans to serve an unprecedented search warrant that demands officials turn over all records related to a decades-long clergy sex abuse crisis. Three investigators from the agency’s Special Victims Unit entered the Walmsley …

The New York Times reports: A lawyer for the chief witness against Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, said on Friday that the witness was cooperating with a House Ethics Committee investigation into whether Mr. Gaetz had sex with an underage girl while he was serving in Congress. Fritz Scheller, a lawyer for Mr. Gaetz’s former friend and political ally …

CNN reports: The House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz has reached out to an ex-girlfriend who was a key witness in the federal investigation into the Florida lawmaker, according to a source familiar with the ethics probe. The outreach, which has not previously been reported, is a sign that the GOP-led committee’s investigation into the Florida Republican has recently …

The Daily Beast reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has been adamant that his move to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was rooted in policy disagreements and wasn’t a personal vendetta related to the congressional ethics investigation against him. In private, he told a different story. According to private correspondence reviewed by The Daily Beast, Gaetz indicated to a friend …

CNN reports: The House Ethics Committee investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz has reached out to the woman whom the congressman allegedly had sexual relations with when she was a 17-year-old minor, according to a source familiar with the committee’s work. The outreach, which has not previously been reported, is a sign that the GOP-led committee’s investigation into the Florida Republican has …

Oak Hill, West Virginia’s ABC affiliate reports: The now former lead pastor of Mount Hope Christian Church has been arrested on charges of patronizing a minor victimized by sexual servitude. Elbert Eugene Goins, known as Buddy Goins, was arrested on December 8 in Beckley. According to the criminal complaint, he had been talking to an adult about having sex with …

The Associated Press reports: Five women on Monday sued the founder of an anti-child-trafficking group that inspired a popular movie this year, alleging he sexually manipulated, abused and harassed them on overseas trips designed to lure and catch child sex traffickers. Tim Ballard’s life story and work with Operation Underground Railroad inspired “Sound of Freedom,” a 2023 film popular with …

The Associated Press reports: A formerly well-connected GOP donor convicted of giving teenage girls gifts, alcohol and money in exchange for sex was sentenced Wednesday to 21 years in prison on sex trafficking charges. Anton “Tony” Lazzaro was found guilty in March by a federal jury of seven counts involving “commercial sex acts” with five girls ages 15 and 16 …

CNN reports: Investigators from the House Ethics Committee have begun reaching out to witnesses as part of a recently revived investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, focused on allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, illicit drug use or other misconduct. At least one witness in Florida told CNN they have spoken to investigators about the Republican …

The New Castle News reports: A New Castle man accused of child sex trafficking and corrupting children in Ohio has been found guilty by a jury in Mahoning County Court. The Ohio jury’s verdict was delivered Wednesday against 35-year-old Jarod Mills of West Terrace Ave. of unlawful attempted sexual contact with a minor. Mill was arrested in Mahoning County in …

Punchbowl News reports: The House Ethics Committee has restarted an investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the latest legal problem for the controversial Florida Republican, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The secretive panel hasn’t decided yet whether to move ahead with a special investigative subcommittee. That would require a vote by the Ethics Committee members and would …

CBS News reports: Anton Lazzaro, a former GOP operative, has been found guilty of sex trafficking underage girls. Lazzaro was charged with seven counts involving “commercial sex acts” with five minors ages 15 and 16 in 2020, when he was 30 years old. Closing arguments wrapped on Friday, and the jury was handed the case shortly before noon. The jury …

CNN reports: The Justice Department has informed lawyers for at least one witness that it will not bring charges against Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz after a years-long federal sex-trafficking investigation, according to a source familiar with the matter. Senior officials reached out to lawyers for at least one witness on Wednesday, the source tells CNN, to inform them of …