Over 40 men accuse ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO of sexual abuse & rape

In October last year, Mike Jeffries pleaded not guilty in US federal court to charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution. The 80-year-old was released on a $10 million bond in late October.

Over 40 men have come forward with serious allegations against Mike Jeffries, claiming that the ex-CEO of the Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) clothing line drugged, raped and sexually assaulted them.

According to a BBC report, Jeffries is now facing multiple civil lawsuits alleging he used modelling opportunities with the fashion brand to assault men. The multiple lawsuits come after Jeffries and his partner Briton Matthew Smith were charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution in October last year. 

The publication reported that A&F clothing line brand is being sued for “facilitating the heinous sexual crimes" of Jeffries and his  partner, Matthew Smith.

The latest allegations stretch back to the 90s when Jeffries was the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch from 1992 to 2014. Some men have alleged that they were sexually assaulted while as employees of A&F, the report said.

A civil trial lawyer, Brad Edwards,  who is representing 26 victims, told the BBC that some men might come forward after the arrests while many were co-operating with the authorities, and claimed that the victim count could run up to a 100.

Another attorney, Jared Scotto, said that the claims date back to the autumn of 1992, the year Mike Jeffries joined the company.

Additionally, two lawsuits have recently been filed in New York by men alleging they were raped by Jeffries after being falsely promised modelling opportunities, the report said. 

In October last year, Jeffries pleaded not guilty in a US federal court to charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution. The 80-year-old was released on a $10 million bond in late October. 

Prosecutors allege that between December 2008 and March 2015 Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson used a combination of "force, fraud and coercion" to traffic men in a sprawling prostitution enterprise.

Charging documents detail 15 anonymous victims, but prosecutors suggest the scale was probably much larger and have appealed for witnesses and victims to come forward.

Prosecutors say young men were taken to the New York home of Jeffries and Smith and to hotels in Britain, France, Italy, Morocco to have sex with them.

Jeffries faces the prospect of life in prison if convicted.