The former boss of fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner have been charged with running a “prostitution and international sex trafficking business”.
Ex-chief executive Mike Jeffries, 80, his partner Matthew Smith, 61, and a third man, James Jacobson, 71, were arrested in the US on Tuesday morning after being charged with one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution.
A US attorney said Jeffries, who was Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive from 1992 to 2014, used his “power, his wealth and his influence, to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure and that of his romantic partner, Matthew Smith”.
Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Jacobson allegedly engaged in “tryouts with men across the world”, after which Smith would “personally approve” them.
The men would then allegedly be flown to Jeffries and Smith’s homes in the Hamptons in New York City, or to hotels around the world, including in England, France, Italy, and Morocco.
Mr Peace said Jeffries, of Florida, Smith, of Florida, and Jacobson, of Wisconsin, “used force, fraud and coercion to traffic those men for their own sexual gratification”, with the indictment identifying 15 alleged victims.
He added that many of the victims, at least one of whom was as young as 19, were financially vulnerable and aspired to become models in the fashion industry.
James Dennehy, assistant director of the FBI’s New York Field Office, said the alleged behaviour was “beyond disturbing, dishonourable and disgraceful”.
He told a press conference in Brooklyn: “These individuals are charged with running a prostitution and international sex trafficking business, using a combination of force, fraud and coercion to induce victims into participating in their illegal operations.
“The defendants allegedly preyed on the hopes and dreams of their victims by exploiting, abusing and silencing them to fulfil their own desires with insidious secret intentions.”
Lawyers for both Jeffries and Smith have previously “vehemently denied” any wrongdoing.
Mr Peace said the alleged sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise “lasted at least from the end of 2008 until early 2015”.
He told the press conference: “They spent millions of dollars on a massive infrastructure to support this operation and maintain its secrecy.”
The attorney said that Jeffries and Smith allegedly subjected men “to invasive sexual and violent contact”, adding they intentionally recruited heterosexual men.
Mr Peace said the pair allegedly caused men to believe that attending sex events “could yield modelling opportunities with Abercrombie or otherwise benefit their careers”, adding they employed a secret staff to operate the events.
“The staff ensured that the men signed non-disclosure agreements and handed over their personal items, such as their phones, before the start of the events to maintain the secrecy of these events.
“The defendants pressured the men to consume alcohol, Viagra and muscle relaxants known as poppers during the sex events.”
Mr Peace added: “The indictment alleges on more than one occasion when men did not or could not consent, Jeffries and Smith violated the bodily integrity of these men by subjecting them or continuing to subject them to invasive sexual and violent contact by body parts and other objects.”
The US Attorney Office for the Eastern District of New York said on Tuesday that Jeffries had been released on a 10 million dollars bond, Jacobson was released on a 500,000 dollars bond, and Smith was “ordered detained”.
Mr Peace previously said prosecutors were seeking detention for Smith because the risk of flight was “particularly acute” as he is a dual citizen of the US and the UK.
Jeffries and Jacobson will be arraigned on Friday at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Long Island, before US Magistrate Judge Steven L Tiscione.
If convicted of the sex trafficking charge, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.
In response to a question about where the events are alleged to have taken place, Mr Peace said “we don’t have evidence that this happened on company grounds”.
He also said they “don’t allege in the indictment that the resources of Abercrombie & Fitch were used in furtherance of this criminal activity”.
Brad Edwards, a lawyer at law firm Edwards Henderson, who represents some alleged victims in the case, and previously filed a civil case against Jeffries and Smith, said: “This arrest is a huge step on the path to justice for the many young men who were exploited and abused by Jeffries and Smith, who used Abercrombie to pull off one of the most organised sex trafficking operations in United States history.”
Abercrombie & Fitch has been approached for comment.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article