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Thursday, September 19, 2024

Diddy’s daughters ‘being looked after by their late mother Kim Porter’s friend’ – as rapper remains in jail amid federal sex trafficking case


Diddy‘s daughters are reportedly being looked after by a close friend of his late ex Kim Porter – as he remains in jail to await trial in a federal sex trafficking case.

TMZ has reported that Diddy’s twin daughters, 17-year-old D’Lila and Jessie, are being cared for by their late mother’s best friend Lala.

Diddy’s daughters are in Los Angeles while his sons, Quincy, 33, Justin, 30, and Christian, 26, are in New York for their father’s legal proceedings. 

For the past few years, Lala has served as a caregiver to Porter’s daughters, TMZ reports. However, she is not their legal guardian. 

Porter had a tumultuous on-off romance with Diddy between 1994 and 2007, welcoming three children with him – Christian and twin girls Jesse and D’Lila. She died at age 47 of lobar pneumonia in 2018. 

Diddy’s daughters ‘being looked after by their late mother Kim Porter’s friend’ – as rapper remains in jail amid federal sex trafficking case

Diddy ‘s daughters are reportedly being looked after by a close friend of his late partner Kim Porter – as he remains in jail to await the trial in a federal sex trafficking case; Diddy pictured with his daughters D’Lila, Chance, and Jesse in 2020

D’Lila and Jessie are both in school in Los Angeles and Lala has been managing their schedules.

She has been protecting the girls the best she can and has been shielding them from the outside noise. 

Lala has also been serving as a mother figure to the teenagers.

Diddy’s three sons were all seen arriving to the courthouse for their father’s hearing in New York on Tuesday.

TMZ adds that Christian and his twin sisters support their father and remain hopeful he will be released from jail. 

Combs was sent to jail Tuesday to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case, after a magistrate ordered him to be held without bail in a case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes.

The music mogul pleaded not guilty Tuesday to racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. He’s accused of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged-up, sometimes dayslong sexual performances dubbed ‘Freak Offs.’

The indictment against him also alleges he coerced and abused women for years while using blackmail and shocking acts of violence to keep his victims in line. It refers obliquely to an attack on his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, that was captured on video.

Prosecutors wanted him jailed. His attorneys proposed that he be released on a $50 million bond to home detention with electronic monitoring. U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky sided with the government.

Diddy and Kim pictured 2005

Diddy and Kim pictured 2005

Kim Porter with Lala in a snap shared by Lala on her Instagram

Kim Porter with Lala in a snap shared by Lala on her Instagram 

Combs took a long swig from a water bottle, then was led out of court without handcuffs. As he walked out, he turned toward family members in the audience.

‘Mr. Combs is a fighter. He´s going to fight this to the end. He´s innocent,’ his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said after court. As a start, he said he would appeal the bail decision.

The Bad Boy Records founder is accused of striking, punching and dragging women, throwing objects and kicking them – and getting his personal assistants, security and household staff to help him hide it all.

‘Not guilty,’ Combs told a court, standing to speak after listening to the allegations with his uncuffed hands folded in his lap.

Federal prosecutors called him dangerous.

‘Mr. Combs physically and sexually abused victims for decades. He used the vast resources of his company to facilitate his abuse and cover up his crimes. Simply put, he is a serial abuser and a serial obstructor,’ Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Johnson told a court. She also said he had ‘extensive and exhaustive history of obstruction of justice,’ including alleged bribery and witness intimidation.

Combs was sent to jail Tuesday to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case, after a magistrate ordered him to be held without bail in a case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes

Combs was sent to jail Tuesday to await trial in his federal sex trafficking case, after a magistrate ordered him to be held without bail in a case that accuses him of presiding over a sordid empire of sexual crimes 

Combs' lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Tuesday, 'Mr. Combs is a fighter. He's going to fight this to the end. He's innocent'

Combs’ lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Tuesday, ‘Mr. Combs is a fighter. He’s going to fight this to the end. He’s innocent’

Agnifilo acknowledged Combs was ‘not a perfect person,’ saying he’d used drugs and had been in ‘toxic relationships’ but was getting treatment and therapy.

‘The evidence in this case is extremely problematic,’ the attorney told the court.

He maintained that the case stemmed from one long-term, consensual relationship that faltered amid infidelity. He didn’t name the woman, but the details matched those of Combs´ decade-long involvement with Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura.

The ‘Freak Offs,’ Agnifilo contended, were an expansion of that relationship, and not coercive.

‘Is it sex trafficking? Not if everybody wants to be there,’ Agnifilo said, arguing that authorities were intruding on his client´s private life.

Prosecutors, however, said in court papers that they had interviewed more than 50 victims and witnesses and expect the number to grow. They said they would use financial, travel and billing records, electronic data and communications and videos of the ‘Freak Offs’ to prove their case.

Combs nodded his head at times as his lawyer spoke and occasionally leaned over to converse with them when they were not. The impresario watched other parts of the proceeding expressionlessly, looking straight ahead.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams explained the charges against Combs during a news conference Tuesday in NYC

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams explained the charges against Combs during a news conference Tuesday in NYC 

Combs was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

A conviction on every charge in the indictment would require a mandatory 15 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence.

The indictment describes Combs as the head of a criminal enterprise that engaged or attempted to engage in sex trafficking, forced labor, interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution, drug offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.

Combs and his associates wielded his ‘power and prestige’ to intimidate and lure women into his orbit, ‘often under the pretense of a romantic relationship,’ the indictment says.

It says he then would use force, threats and coercion to get the women to engage with male sex workers in the ‘Freak Offs’ – ‘elaborate and produced sex performances’ that Combs arranged, directed, masturbated during and often recorded, creating dozens of videos.

Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky presided during a hearing for Sean Combs Tuesday. Seen in a courtroom sketch

Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky presided during a hearing for Sean Combs Tuesday. Seen in a courtroom sketch  

In this courtroom sketch, Sean Combs, center, is flanked by his defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, left, and Teny Garagos, in Manhattan Federal Court Tuesday

In this courtroom sketch, Sean Combs, center, is flanked by his defense attorney Marc Agnifilo, left, and Teny Garagos, in Manhattan Federal Court Tuesday 

He sometimes arranged to fly the women in and ensured their participation by procuring and providing drugs, controlling their careers, leveraging his financial support and using intimidation and violence, according to the indictment.

The events could last for days, and Combs and victims would often receive IV fluids to recover from the exertion and drug use, the indictment said.

It said his employees facilitated ‘Freak Offs’ by arranging travel, booking hotel rooms, stocking them with such supplies as drugs and baby oil, scheduling the delivery of IV fluids and cleaning the rooms afterward.

During the searches of Combs´ homes earlier this year, law enforcement seized narcotics, videos of the ‘Freak Offs’ and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant, according to prosecutors. They said agents also seized firearms and ammunition, including three AR-15s with defaced serial numbers – two of them, broken into parts, in his bedroom closet in Miami.

Combs’ lawyer said his client didn´t own the guns at his house, noting that he employs a security company.

The indictment portrays Combs as a violent man who choked and shoved people, hit and kicked victims and sometimes dragged them by their hair, causing injuries that often took days or weeks to heal. His employees and associates sometimes witnessed his violence and kept victims from leaving or tracked down those who tried, the indictment said.

It alleges that Combs sometimes kept videos of victims engaging in sex acts and used the recordings as ‘collateral’ to ensure the women’s continued obedience and silence. He also exerted control over victims by promising career opportunities, providing and threatening to withhold financial support, dictating how they looked, monitoring their health records and controlling where they lived, according to the indictment.

As the threat of criminal charges loomed, Combs and his associates pressured witnesses and victims to stay silent, offering bribes and supplying false narratives of what happened, the indictment says.

In a court filing, prosecutors accused Combs and an unidentified co-conspirator of kidnapping someone at gunpoint a few days before Christmas in 2011 in order to facilitate a break-in at another person´s home. Two weeks later, they wrote, Combs set fire to someone´s vehicle by slicing open its convertible top and dropping in a Molotov cocktail.

All of this, prosecutors allege, was happening behind the facade of Combs´ global music, lifestyle and clothing business.

‘A year ago, Sean Combs stood in Times Square and was handed a key to New York City. Today, he´s been indicted and will face justice,’ Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference Tuesday. Combs returned the key in June after Mayor Eric Adams requested it back.

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