9-year-old among 120 victims in sex assault lawsuits against Sean 'Diddy' Combs, attorney says

The youngest victim said he was 9 years old when he was allegedly sexually assaulted by Combs. HOUSTON -- High-profile Houston attorney Tony Buzbee is vetting claims of assault made by more than 3,800 people from across the U.S. against hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs. Combs, 54, was arrested on Sept. 16 by federal agents and is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on accusations of sex trafficking, transportation to engage in prostitution, and racketeering. Buzbee intends to start filing civil suits against Combs alleging violence, sexual assault or rape, sexual abuse, facilitated sex with a controlled substance, false imprisonment, compelling prostitution, sexual misconduct, dissemination of video recordings, and sexual abuse of minors. So far, Buzbee said he has vetted the allegations of 120 individuals and accepted them as clients. Of the clients he has accepted, Buzbee says exactly half are men and half are women. RELATED: Attorney says 120 accusers allege sexual misconduct against Sean Combs He said 62% identify as African American and 30% are white. Twenty-five of his clients told the attorney that they were underage when they were victimized. He said a few of the clients are from Houston. The alleged assaults happened over the last 25 years, but Buzbee said most have been since 2015. Buzbee said they have received pictures, videos, and texts from the clients they have accepted to corroborate their stories. Some of them have already spoken to the FBI, and he said others might move forward depending on their comfort level. He said his office has received more than 3,200 calls from people who claim to be victims. They are working to vet those claims. They are now employing a former major offenders detective from Houston police to help them. The alleged assaults are said to have taken place primarily in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Los Angeles, and Miami. "Most of these events and incidents occurred at parties, typically after parties or album release parties, New Year's Eve parties, Fourth of July parties, something they called a puppy party or white parties," Buzbee said during a news conference. Of his clients, Buzbee said that drugs played a role in 90% of their assaults. He said a drug that they saw a number of times was Xylazine, which is used to tranquilize horses. "Typically, the victim is lured into a situation where he or she is given a drink," Buzbee explained. "Typically, that drink reported by these victims is laced with something. Once that drink takes effect, the perpetrators perform all kinds of sexual acts on the victims.

Many times, passing him or her around as other people watch and enjoy the show and then leave." If they refused to drink the drink, clients have told Buzbee that they were kicked out of the parties. Clients expressed that when they reached out afterward, they were told not to say anything and were sometimes threatened with physical or financial harm. "Another individual, 26 at the time of the occurrence, was picked up allegedly by Mr. Combs and several other people in a black SUV from the airport, was given one drink in the SUV, and then literally woke up the next day not knowing what had happened, but with pain and damage to both her vagina and her anus," Buzbee explained. He said in other cases, the alleged assaults happened at auditions or in the studio. "People wanting to break into the industry were coerced into this type of conduct in the promise of being made a star or the promise of having Sean Combs listen to their tape or even let them read for Sean Combs," Buzbee said. Buzbee's youngest client said he was 9 years old when he was sexually assaulted by Combs. "This individual was sexually abused, allegedly by Sean Combs and several other people at the studio, in the promise to both his parents and himself of getting a record deal," Buzbee explained. In addition to accusing Combs of taking part in the assaults, Buzbee said there are a number of others, high profile people, banks, hotels, and pharmaceutical companies that will be listed as defendants. He said the corporate entities were paid in cash. He said they plan to go after people who engaged in the conduct, witnessed it, and did nothing to stop it, facilitated it, and anyone who helped cover it up. He said those individuals and entities will "shock you". "The day will come when we will name names other than Sean Combs, and there's a lot of names," Buzbee said. "It's a long list already." Buzbee plans to start filing the suits in the next 30 days. He said this will not be a class action lawsuit. Each case will be filed individually, primarily in New York and California. Combs' lawyer, Erica Wolff, issued a statement to ABC13 following the news conference saying, "As Mr. Combs' legal team has emphasized, he cannot address every meritless allegation in what has become a reckless media circus. That said, Mr. Combs emphatically and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors. He looks forward to proving his innocence and vindicating himself in court, where the truth will be established based on evidence, not speculation."

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