Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO arrested on sex trafficking charges

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries and two others were arrested in Brooklyn on Tuesday as part of a criminal sex trafficking investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors.

Jeffries, his partner Matt Smith and a third man, Jim Jacobson, are accused of running an international sex trafficking and prostitution business that recruited young men for parties in the United States and abroad, according to the indictment.

The former retail executive and Smith relied on their vast financial resources, Jeffries’ power as CEO of Abercrombie and numerous people, including Jacobson and a network of employees, contractors and security experts, to run a company “dedicated to achieving their goals.” “sexual desires and ensured that their international sex trafficking and prostitution business was kept secret,” the indictment says.

Federal prosecutors said the trio paid dozens of men to travel around the world to perform sex acts. The indictment names 15 alleged victims, identified as John Does #1-15. Jeffries allegedly recruited, hired and paid a number of domestic workers to “facilitate and monitor the sex events.”

Jacobson traveled across the United States and internationally recruiting and interviewing men for so-called sex events. According to prosecutors, during “mock exams” of potential candidates, Jacobson first required the candidates to engage in sexual acts with him.

The indictment alleges that many of the men were coerced, which led them to believe that attending the events would open up modeling opportunities at Abercrombie or otherwise benefit their careers, or, alternatively, that failure to comply with demands would lead to them Certain actions during sex events could harm their careers.

The defendants are accused of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution. They are expected to appear in the jurisdictions where the men were arrested in Florida and Wisconsin before being transported to Central Islip in Long Island, New York, for arraignment at a later date.

“We will respond to the allegations in detail after the indictment is unsealed and as necessary, but we plan to do so in the courthouse – not in the media,” said Brian Bieber, an attorney for Jeffries, and Joe Nascimento, an attorney for Smith. said ABC News in identical statements.

Abercrombie & Fitch and an attorney for Jacobson declined ABC News’ requests for comment.

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Federal prosecutors acknowledged the investigation in January after alleged victims filed a civil lawsuit a year ago.

Jeffries, who transformed Abercrombie from a traditional Ohio outfitter into a powerful teen fashion brand, has been accused in civil lawsuits of exploiting young men for sex at parties he threw with his partner at his Hamptons estate in New York, London, Venice and organized elsewhere. Blacksmith.

One of the plaintiffs, David Bradberry, a former crew member on the reality series “Below Deck,” said Jeffries made Abercrombie successful by “oversexualizing young men.”

His lawsuit accused Jeffries, Smith, Jacobson and Abercrombie itself of luring attractive young men under the guise of turning them into Abercrombie models and then forcing them into drugs and sexual acts.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Brad Edwards of Edwards Henderson, told ABC News in a statement: “As we have outlined in our lawsuit, this was a sex trafficking organization run by Abercrombie that permeated the entire company and allowed the three people arrested today “enabled the victimization of dozens and dozens of young, aspiring male models.”

ABC News’ Laryssa Demkiw contributed to this report.

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO arrested on sex trafficking charges originally appeared on abcnews.go.com