NEW YORK — Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man were arrested Tuesday on charges of luring men into drug-laced, outlandish and coercive sex parties held around the world by dangling the promise of modeling for the retailer’s once-defining beefcake ads.
For almost 20 years, Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and their employee James Jacobson used Jeffries’ status, wealth and a web of household staffers to fulfill the couple’s sexual desires in what amounted to an international sex trafficking and prostitution business protected by secrecy, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in New York.
“Sexually exploiting vulnerable human beings is a crime. And doing so by dangling dreams of a future in fashion or modeling … is no different,” Brooklyn-based U.S. attorney Breon Peace said at a news conference, calling the case a warning “to anyone who thinks they can exploit and coerce others by using the so-called casting couch system.”
The charges follow and sometimes echo sexual misconduct accusations made in lawsuits and the media by young people who said Jeffries promised modeling work and then pressed them into sex acts.
All three defendants appeared Tuesday in various courts — Jeffries and Smith in West Palm Beach, Fla., where they were taken into custody, and Jacobson in St. Paul, after his arrest in Wisconsin.
Jacobson didn’t address the charges during his court appearance in St. Paul, other than to say, “I understand what they claim,” as he left the courthouse on $500,000 bond. Jacobson has said previously that he didn’t engage in or know about any coercive, deceptive or forceful behavior. Messages seeking comment were sent to Jacobson’s attorney.
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald confirmed to the Pioneer Press on Tuesday that Jacobson lives just outside of Rice Lake, Wis. The sheriff’s department assisted FBI agents from New York and Wisconsin in arresting Jacobson and executing a search warrant at the property.
“I don’t know how long he’s lived here,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve seen him around. I’ve had conversations with him at fundraisers, or whatever. But I didn’t know who he was.”
The FBI gave the sheriff’s department a heads-up on the case last week, Fitzgerald said, adding he “didn’t know who the target was. We knew it had to do with sex-trafficking. And then last night, we learned it was tied to this bigger case. But what a shocker, though. It’s a bigger deal than we thought.”
Accused of abusing position
Jeffries wore a broad smile but didn’t comment after he was released from federal custody after an initial court appearance.
Smith, a dual U.S.-British citizen, was ordered detained after prosecutors raised concerns that he might flee the country.
Jeffries’ attorney, Brian Bieber, and Smith’s lawyers, Joseph Nascimento and David Raben, said by email they would respond to the allegations in court.
The three defendants are charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution involving 15 unnamed accusers.
The case is the latest sex crime prosecution of a prominent and wealthy man — from Sean “Diddy” Combs to Harvey Weinstein — accused of abusing his position as a star or possible star-maker, though the status of the cases and important aspects of the allegations vary. An early accuser of the late Jeffrey Epstein said he groped her during a 1997 meeting arranged as a modeling interview for the Victoria’s Secret catalog.
James Dennehy, the assistant director of the FBI’s New York office, called the allegations “abhorrent.”
According to the indictment, the three paid for dozens of men to travel within the U.S. and internationally to engage in paid sex with them and other men in New York and at hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts between 2008 and 2015. The sometimes graphic indictment describes sexual bacchanals in which the recruited men were given drugs, lubricant, condoms, costumes, sex toys and, sometimes, erection-inducing penile injections that caused painful, hourslong reactions.
The men weren’t informed of all that the events would entail, including some of the sexual practices they’d be expected to engage in, and they were required to give up their clothes and cell phones during the gatherings and sign non-disclosure agreements afterward, the indictment said. It said the men sometimes got itineraries like those sent to models for photo shoots, leaving the men in the dark about what they were signing up for.
The defendants led the men to believe that attending the events would help their careers, including their chances of getting Abercrombie modeling gigs — or that not complying could harm their prospects, the indictment says.
Jeffries and Smith employed Jacobson to recruit the men, who typically had to undergo “tryouts” by having sex with Jacobson first, according to the indictment. It says other, unnamed household staffers also helped facilitate the events, including by acting as security and providing alcohol, muscle relaxants, Viagra and other items.
The men were subjected to some sex acts without consent, and when witnesses threatened to expose what was going on, Jeffries and Smith used a security company to surveil and intimidate them into silence, according to a letter that prosecutors filed in court.
Peace said at the news conference that prosecutors have “a lot of evidence,” including travel records, financial documents and testimony from accusers and witnesses.
Left company in 2014
Jeffries became CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch in 1992 and left in 2014. The New Albany, Ohio-based company, which also encompasses Hollister, declined to comment on his arrest.
Prosecutors don’t allege that the company’s resources or property were used in the alleged sex scheme.
Abercrombie last year said it had hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation after the BBC reported on similar allegations from a dozen men.
A lawsuit filed in New York last year accused Abercrombie of allowing Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organization during his 22-year tenure, with modeling scouts scouring the internet for victims. At the time, Bieber declined to comment on the allegations.
Abercrombie & Fitch traces its roots to a hunting and outdoors goods store that was founded in 1892. When Jeffries arrived a century later, the brand was a retail also-ran.
He was credited with transforming it into a darling of turn-of-the-millennium teen mall culture, known for its nouveau-preppy aesthetic — and for its sexy ads and store events featuring shirtless, muscular male models. Jeffries talked openly about how the company went after attractive kids who could fit into its clothes.
Those remarks alienated customers who didn’t fit — literally or otherwise — the brand’s image, and the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession prompted some teens to look to less expensive “fast fashion” chains. A&F’s popularity started to fade again.
By the time Jeffries left, the company’s sales were slumping, and a hedge fund had pushed the board to replace him.
A few months after his departure, the retailer announced it would stop using “sexualized” photos in marketing materials in its shops and calling store staffers “models.” The company told regional managers it wouldn’t “tolerate discrimination based on body type or physical attractiveness.”
The company has rebounded in recent years.
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Pioneer Press writer Nick Ferraro and AP writer Steve Karnowski in St. Paul contributed to this report.
