Man pleads guilty to booking politicians and professors to brothels near Washington and Boston

MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — A second person has pleaded guilty to helping run a high-end brothel network whose clients around Boston and Washington, D.C., included elected officials, military officers, professors and lawyers, prosecutors said Thursday. Junmyung Lee, 31, of Dedham,...

Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO pleads not guilty to sex trafficking and prostitution charges

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — The former longtime CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch pleaded not guilty Friday to federal sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges. Michael Jeffries, 80, declined to comment after his lawyer entered the plea on his behalf in federal court in...

Sean 'Diddy' Combs to stay in jail while appeals court takes up bail fight

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court judge has ruled to keep Sean “Diddy” Combs locked up while he makes a third bid for bail in his sex trafficking case, which is slated to go to trial in May. In a decision filed Friday, Circuit Judge William J. Nardini denied the hip-hop...

Sex workers find themselves at the center of Congo's mpox outbreak

KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — It's been four months since Sifa Kunguja recovered from mpox, but as a sex worker, she said, she's still struggling to regain clients, with fear and stigma driving away people who've heard she had the virus. “It’s risky work,” Kunguja, 40, said from...

Sean 'Diddy' Combs appeals for release while he awaits sex trafficking trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs is appealing a federal judge's decision to keep him in jail while he awaits trial on sex trafficking charges. The hip-hop mogul's lawyers filed a notice of appeal Monday in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after previously saying they...

Diddy faces public scrutiny over alleged sex crimes as questions arise about future of his music

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs created a hit-making empire with big name performers, earning his place as a savvy music mogul and becoming a three-time Grammy winner while securing high-profile deals across other industries. But now, Combs’ kingdom is collapsing under...

A gold mining town in Congo has become an mpox hot spot as a new strain spreads

KAMITUGA, Congo (AP) — Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter’s grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral. In her first visit to the cemetery, she...

What to know about Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ indictment

Sean “Diddy” Combs, the disgraced hip-hop mogul, faces federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges in an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday. He was arrested Monday in New York after being indicted by a federal grand jury. The arrest and indictment come after a months-long sex trafficking...

Backpage.com founder Michael Lacey sentenced to 5 years in prison, fined $3M for money laundering

PHOENIX (AP) — Michael Lacey, a founder of the lucrative classified site Backpage.com, was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison and fined $3 million for a single money laundering count in a sprawling case involving allegations of a yearslong scheme to promote and profit from prostitution...

Backpage founder Michael Lacey sentenced to 5 years in prison for money laundering in case involving prostitution ads