The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch and his partner have been arrested and charged with running a prostitution and international sex trafficking business. Also on the programme, after Moldova voted for pro-EU constitutional changes by only 0.16 of a percentage point, there are now accusations that there was meddling and interference in the referendum; and, Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail. (Photo: Press conference with federal authorities on former Abercrombie & Fitch chief Mike Jeffries arrested on federal sex trafficking charges, New York, USA - 10 Oct 2024. SARAH YENESEL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstocki)
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Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service.
I'm Sha Lay.
Mike Jeffries, the former boss of the high end fashion firm Abercrombie and Fitch, along with his partner Matthew Smith, and a third man, James Jacobsen, were arrested in New York on Tuesday on charges of sexual assault and people trafficking.
The offences involved multiple alleged male victims.
The indictment was read out by Breon Peace, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and I should warn you that you may find this description disturbing.
The defendants caused the men to believe that not complying with requests for certain acts, sex acts during the events, could harm their careers.
The defendants pressured the men to consume alcohol, Viagra and muscle relaxants known as poppers, during the sex events.
And they required the presence of staff during the sexual activity and ensured that the men did not leave the sex events until Jeffries and Smith decided that the sessions were over.
Brion peace.
Well, the BBC's Madeleine Hallpert was at that news conference and afterwards she told me more about the charges.
Yeah, so we heard from three prosecutors this afternoon and they told us about the 16 counts these three men are facing for interstate prostitution and sex trafficking.
Prosecutors allege that Jeffries used his wealth as a powerful CEO of the clothing company to create an international sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise.