Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries has been accused of sexually assaulting male models after he conducted fake job interviews.
Jeffries, 80, and his longtime partner Matthew Smith, were arrested in West Palm Beach on sex trafficking charges on Tuesday. A third man, Jim Jacobson, was arrested in the same case in Wisconsin.
Attorney Brad Edwards, who is representing more than a dozen alleged victims in a lawsuit, told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that Jeffries used his role at Abercrombie to lure young male models and sexually abuse them.
‘There is nothing consensual about it. These were aspiring young models who were sought out and promised to be Abercrombie models, essentially,’ Edwards said.
The men went through ‘an interview’ with Jeffries before they ‘were ‘were taken into a room,’ where ‘the most heinous of sexual crimes were committed against them,’ according to the lawyer.
Former Abercrombie & Fitch boss Mike Jeffries was released on bail Tuesday after being charged with sickening sex crimes, grinning as he walked outside
Jeffries, right, was released from jail on a $10 million bond by a magistrate at the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday
Edwards added: ‘They were all forced to wear Abercrombie clothes to events that were decorated as if it was an Abercrombie store… made to sign NDAs, told that if they ever disclosed this that bad things would happen to them, reputationally, financially, physically.’
Jeffries was released on a $10million bond hours after his arrest. He grinned as he walked with his lawyers to a waiting car outside, wearing a dark blue jumper over a polo shirt and white short, and what appeared to be slippers.
Jacobson, who is accused of procuring the men for Jeffries and his partner, was freed on a $500,000 bond.
Smith, a dual U.S.- British citizen, was ordered detained after prosecutors raised concerns that he might flee the country.
Prosecutors say the three men lured men into drug-laced, outlandish and coercive sex parties by dangling the promise of modeling for the retailer’s once-defining beefcake ads.
According to the indictment, Jacobson, Jeffries and Smith paid for dozens of men to travel to engage in sex with them and other men in New York and at hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts between 2008 and 2015.
Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith (left) are accused of recruiting men for sex parties and coercing them into sexual acts
The men said they were recruited by a middleman identified as James Jacobson, who denies any wrongdoing
Detectives said the men typically underwent ‘tryouts’ by having sex first with Jacobson, who acted as a recruiter for his bosses. He has a snakeskin nose.
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, hours-long reactions.
They are charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution involving 15 unnamed accusers.
Federal prosecutors charged the three men after a BBC documentary featured several men who claimed they had been victimized by them.
Jeffries’ reign at Abercrombie & Fitch was dominated by its controversial brand image and the equally controversial remarks he made about his customer base
Jeffries left Abercrombie & Fitch 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 lawyer for Jeffries has previously said ‘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.’
