Diddy denied bail, sent to jail ahead of sex trafficking trial

Robyn Tarnofsky, the US magistrate judge, has ordered that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs be sent to jail to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case.

According to AP, the judge held that the embattled rapper, who is currently facing federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges, be held without bail.

Tarnofsky gave the order on Tuesday after the music mogul pleaded not guilty to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.

The bail denial followed after Diddy was accused in a 14-page federal indictment of using his sprawling business empire to abuse, threaten, and traffic women to “fulfill his sexual desires” and protect his reputation.

Federal prosecutors, in the indictment, charged Diddy with sex trafficking by force, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering conspiracy.

They alleged the rapper, with help from Combs Enterprise associates, ran an “enterprise that he engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor or, kidnapping, arson and other crimes”.

Combs was said to have “abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct” from 2008 to now.

Of the three charges against the rapper, two carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. Prosecutors had asked that he remain jailed until trial.

His lawyers, however, prayed that he be released on a $50 million bond to home detention with electronic monitoring.

Tarnofsky kicked against the bail request. The 54-year-old rapper was thereafter taken out of court without handcuffs.

Diddy is the highest-profile musician to face sexual misconduct charges since Robert Sylvester Kelly, the R&B singer popularly known as R. Kelly.

Kelly was sentenced in 2022 to more than 30 years in prison for sexually abusing fans, some of them children, racketeering, and sex trafficking.