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UPDATE (Oct. 25, 2024, 4:10 p.m. ET): Mike Jeffries pleaded not guilty on Friday to one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution. Jeffries is free on a $10 million bond but was required to give up his passport.
UPDATE (Oct. 23, 2024, 4:55 p.m. ET): Abercrombie & Fitch said in a statement on Instagram Wednesday that the company has “zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind, and are committed to fully cooperating with law enforcement as the legal process continues.”
Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch who has faced allegations of sexual abuse against male models, has been arrested on federal sex trafficking charges, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Jeffries, who led the retailer from 1992 until 2014, was arrested in Florida, NBC News reported. Two of his associates — his romantic partner, Matthew Smith, of West Palm Beach, Florida, and James Jacobson of Wisconsin — were also arrested in connection with sex trafficking charges.
Each man faces one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution.
At a news conference Tuesday, federal prosecutors in New York accused the three men of running an international sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise that lasted from the end of 2008 to early 2015. According to Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the men spent “millions on a massive infrastructure to support this operation and maintain its secrecy.” Jacobson was allegedly tasked with recruiting the men, engaging in “tryouts” that involved sex acts with men who would then be flown out to attend events with Jeffries and Smith, under the guise that those events could benefit their fashion careers or lead to modeling gigs with Abercrombie.
Federal investigators have identified 15 John Does as alleged victims, but they believe that the enterprise ensnared “dozens and dozens of men,” Peace said, urging anyone with relevant information to reach out to authorities.
“The defendants allegedly preyed on the hopes and dreams of their victims by exploiting, abusing and silencing them to fulfill their own desires with insidious secret intentions,” said James Dennehy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office.
Jeffries was the subject of a BBC investigation last year in which he and Smith were accused of sexually exploiting young men at events they hosted and coercing them into sex.
Abercrombie released a statement following the BBC report last year saying it was “appalled and disgusted” by the report and that its current leadership had not been aware of the allegations against Jeffries.
The company faced a class-action lawsuit weeks later for allegedly turning a blind eye to Jeffries’ alleged abuse.
After news of the arrest broke, Jeffries’ attorney, Brian Bieber, told NBC News: “We will respond in detail to the allegations after the Indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse — not the media.” Abercrombie declined NBC’s request for comment on Tuesday.
Brittany Henderson, an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told CNBC on Tuesday that the arrests are “monumental” for the victims.
“Their fight for justice does not end here. We look forward to holding Abercrombie and Fitch liable for facilitating this terrible conduct and ensuring that this cannot happen again,” she said.