The former CEO of the American ready-to-wear brand Abercrombie & Fitch Mike Jeffries, his companion and another suspect were arrested and charged with trafficking for sexual exploitation and pimping, federal prosecutor Breon Peace announced this Tuesday during a press conference. conference in New York.
The investigation refers to the recruitment, between 2008 and 2015, of aspiring models for the brand who were forced to participate in parties in which they had to consume drugs, alcohol and Viagra to perform sexual acts, explained the prosecutor of the Eastern District of New York. . .
Mike Jeffries “used his power, his wealth and his influence to exploit men for his pleasure and that of his partner Matthew Smith,” declared the head of this federal prosecutor’s office.
“Intrusive and violent sexual contacts”
The prosecutor described a classic system of “couch promotion”, in which the couple’s middleman, James Jacobson, “recruited” and “tested” young people from around the world before handing them to Mike Jeffries and Matthew Smith.
Still according to the prosecutor, the victims were taken to the couple’s residences in the New York area, or to hotels in England, France, Italy or Morocco to have sexual relations with the couple.
“According to the indictment, on several occasions, when the men did not or were unable to give consent, Messrs. Jeffries and Smith violated their bodily integrity by subjecting them or continuing to do so to intrusive and violent sexual contact,” the prosecutor said.
golden parachute
The case arose from a BBC investigation in 2023, in which several men revealed that they had signed confidentiality contracts about sex parties organized by Mike Jeffries.
Mike Jeffries was fired from Abercrombie in late 2014, with a $25 million golden parachute, after declaring that his group’s clothing was not for “fat people.” In the following months, the company abandoned one of its brands, models with sculptural torsos and wasp-waisted saleswomen wearing very short dresses to attract customers to its stores.
“Today’s arrests are of monumental importance for the aspiring male models who were victims of these individuals,” one of the lawyers representing some civil plaintiffs, Brittany Henderson, reacted to AFP.
“Their fight for justice does not end here. We will hold Abercrombie & Fitch accountable for facilitating these terrible acts and ensure it never happens again,” he added.
Source: BFM TV
