Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief Mike Jeffries charged with sex crimes

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00:00Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, leaves a court in West Palm Beach, Florida.

00:06It's the latest flashpoint in a sex scandal that has seen him, his partner and their alleged middleman

00:12arrested and charged with sex trafficking and prostitution.

00:16From 2008 to 2015, the three allegedly recruited aspiring models, forcing them to attend parties

00:23where they were given drugs, alcohol and Viagra to perform sexual acts.

00:27But beyond simply hiring men for sex, Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson used force, fraud and coercion

00:38to traffic those men for their own sexual gratification.

00:42According to an indictment unsealed in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York,

00:47the men who attended the so-called sex parties were allegedly led to believe that it could lead to

00:52modelling opportunities or help their careers.

00:55The three suspects allegedly paid for the victims to then attend events they organised in several locations,

01:01including in England, France, Morocco and New York.

01:05Jeffries stepped down as CEO from Abercrombie in 2014 with a reported retirement package of over $25 million,

01:13that after saying he didn't want larger people shopping at his store.

01:18Shortly after his departure, the company abandoned its trademark use of topless male models

01:23to lure customers into its stores.

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