Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries and his romantic partner have been arrested on sex trafficking charges

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man were arrested Tuesday on charges of luring dozens of men to sex parties around the world, sometimes by promising to pay for them to work as a model for the clothing retailer.

Jeffries, partner Matthew Smith and their employee James Jacobson “operated an international sex trafficking and prostitution business” from 2008 to 2015, using Jeffries’ status, wealth and a network of household employees to fulfill the couple’s sexual desires and keeping everything secret an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn.

READ MORE: Sean “Diddy” Combs is scheduled to be charged with sex trafficking in May

The charges stem from allegations of sexual misconduct made in court cases and in the media by young people who said Jeffries promised modeling jobs and then pressured them into sexual acts.

Jeffries’ attorney, Brian Bieber, said via email that he “will respond to the allegations in detail after the indictment is unsealed and as necessary, but will do so at the courthouse and not in the media.”
Messages seeking comment were sent to attorneys for Smith and Jacobson.

Jeffries and Smith were arrested in Florida and were scheduled to make their first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in West Palm Beach. Jacobson was arrested in Wisconsin and tried in St. Paul, Minnesota. Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace and FBI and police officials were scheduled to hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson are charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution.

According to the indictment, they paid dozens of men to travel within the United States and internationally to have commercial sex with them and other men in New York and at hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts. The indictment describes sexual bacchanals in which the recruited men were given drugs, lubricants, condoms, costumes, sex toys and sometimes erection-inducing penile injections that caused painful, hours-long reactions.

The defendants led the men to believe that attending the events would benefit their careers, including their chances of getting modeling gigs at Abercrombie – or that failure to attend could harm their prospects, the indictment says.

Jeffries and Smith hired Jacobson to recruit and hire the men, who typically had to undergo “trial training” by first having sex with Jacobson, according to the indictment. It said other unnamed household staff also helped run the events, including by acting as security guards and providing alcohol, muscle relaxants, Viagra and other items.

Jeffries became CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch in 1992 and left the company in 2014. The New Albany, Ohio-based company declined to comment on his arrest.

Abercrombie said last year it had hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation after the BBC broadcast a report about similar allegations.

The BBC investigation included a dozen men who described taking part in events involving sexual acts that they said were orchestrated by Jeffries and Smith, often at his home in New York and hotels in London, Paris and elsewhere.

The BBC report also described Jacobson as a middleman who recruited men for the events. He told the news outlet at the time that he had not engaged in “compulsive, fraudulent or violent behavior” and was unaware of it.

In a lawsuit filed last year in New York, Abercrombie was accused of allowing Jeffries to run a sex trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure. It said Jeffries had model scouts scour the Internet for victims and that some potential models had become victims of sex trafficking. Bieber declined to comment on the allegations at the time.

Abercrombie & Fitch’s roots go back to a hunting and outdoor goods store founded in 1892. By the time Jeffries arrived a century later, the brand was already a retail operation.

He was credited with making it a darling of millennial teen mall culture, known for its nouveau-preppy aesthetic — and some of the controversy surrounding it. Jeffries angered some customers by talking about how the company was targeting attractive children who would fit into its clothes.

After the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, A&F’s popularity began to wane again. When Jeffries left, a hedge fund had urged the company’s board to replace him because the company was failing.

But the company has recovered in recent years.