Sean Combs trial: A second alleged trafficking victim takes the stand today
In the fourth week of Sean Combs’ trial, the government will call a woman to the witness stand who was allegedly trafficked by the hip-hop mogul until as recently as last year. The witness, who will testify under the pseudonym “Jane,” begins her testimony later today.
Unlike the high-profile testimony of Combs’ former partner Cassie Ventura, there’s little publicly known information about the woman who will presumably round out the latter part of the prosecution’s case against Combs. The producer and entrepreneur faces two counts of sex trafficking by coercion, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and one count of racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors say these crimes span two decades.
Jane is listed as “Victim 2” in the government’s indictment of Combs, which accuses him of forcing her into commercial sex acts from around 2021 until approximately 2024. During opening arguments, lead prosecutor Emily Anne Johnson said that Jane was a single mom when she began spending time with Combs in 2020. The relationship was not public or exclusive — but Johnson said Combs took steps to financially control Jane in order to get her to satisfy his sexual desires.
Johnson also said that less than a year before the trial began, Combs beat down multiple doors in Jane’s house, attacked her and forced her into a highly orchestrated sexual performance referred to as a “freak-off.” Combs’ defense attorneys have repeatedly conceded that their client has violent tendencies, but that these were consensual yet toxic relationships with no relevance to the charges he faces.
Jane’s direct questioning and cross-examination are expected to take up the remainder of this week and most of the following week. The prosecution has repeatedly expressed concerns to Judge Arun Subramanian about sealing and redacting evidence that could compromise the identity of Jane or her child to the public.
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