Former Abercrombie & Fitch boss arrested on sex trafficking charges

The former boss of fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner have been arrested and face sex trafficking charges.

A spokesman for federal prosecutors in the US said ex-chief executive Mike Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and a third man, Jim Jacobson, were arrested on Tuesday morning.

The trio are alleged to have sexually abused young men at parties in the US and other countries.

Jeffries became CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch in 1992 and left in 2014. The New Albany, Ohio-based company declined to comment on his arrest.

One lawsuit filed in New York last year accused Abercrombie of allowing Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking organisation during his 22-year tenure. It said that Jeffries had modelling scouts scouring the internet for victims and that some prospective models became sex trafficking victims.

Abercrombie last year said it had hired an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation after a report on similar allegations was aired by the BBC.

Lawyers for both Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith have previously “vehemently denied” any wrongdoing.

Brad Edwards, a lawyer at law firm Edwards Henderson, who represents some alleged victims in the case, and previously filed a civil case against Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith, said: “Our firm represents all of the victims in the class action case we filed on their behalf.

“This arrest is a huge step on the path to justice for the many young men who were exploited and abused by Jeffries and Smith, who used Abercrombie to pull off one of the most organised sex trafficking operations in United States history.”

Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith will appear at a federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Mr Jacobson will make his first court appearance in St Paul, Minnesota, prosecutors said.

Jeffries’ lawyer, Brian Bieber, said by email he would “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.”

The case will later be transferred to the eastern district of New York.