Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, 80, was arrested on Tuesday, October 22, on prices associated to a prison intercourse trafficking investigation by the FBI. His companion Matthew Smith, 61, and intermediary James Jacobson, 71, had been additionally arrested as associates. All three defendants had been named in an indictment, accessible in full through CNBC, filed by federal prosecutors in New York. These prison prices come a couple of 12 months after a BBC investigation revealed allegations that Jeffries and Smith exploited younger males for intercourse at occasions held in motels all over the world and at their residences in New York.
Warning: This text incorporates descriptions of sexual assault. Reader discretion is suggested.
Why was Mike Jeffries arrested?
Mike Jeffries, together with Smith and Jacobson, was arrested and charged with 16 counts of intercourse trafficking and interstate prostitution associated to alleged misconduct from December 2008 to March 2015.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn shall be holding a press convention concerning the arrests at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET on Tuesday.
All three defendants shall be arraigned within the Japanese District of New York at an unspecified date, as reported by CNN. Federal prosecutors be aware that this indictment additionally follows a civil lawsuit filed a 12 months in the past by alleged victims.
Jeffries and Smith allegedly paid males to journey with them all over the world to have interaction in intercourse acts with them and others, significantly for “intercourse events” that included medication and alcohol. In the meantime, Jacobson would interview and maintain “tryouts” of potential candidates, luring many aspiring fashions with profession alternatives with the style model.
One nameless sufferer speaking with the BBC stated he thought he was going to do a photoshoot in 2011 when he was guided to Jeffries’ presidential suite in a lodge in Spain. The person, then 20 years previous, flew from Los Angeles to Madrid for the supposed modeling alternative, however in the course of the assembly he alleges that Jeffries and Smith appeared and started touching him. He says that the “very aggressive” Abercrombie boss carried out oral intercourse on him, regardless of him making an attempt “to say no repeatedly.”
A 2023 BBC documentary referred to as “The Abercrombie Guys: The Darkish Facet of Cool” explores the quite a few allegations of abuse and exploitation towards Mike Jeffries. It’s accessible on Apple TV, Amazon Prime, and Roku.
Jeffries stepped down because the Abercrombie & Fitch CEO in 2014. Present CEO Fran Horowitz took over the place in 2017.
