Abercrombie & Fitch CEO has dementia, claim lawyers amid sex trafficking charges
Lawyers representing former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries in his sex trafficking and prostitution case have claimed he has dementia and will face a hearing to determine whether he can face the vile charges.
The attorneys wrote in court filings Monday that the 80-year-old was examined in October by a neuropsychologist, who concluded he likely had dementia with behavioral disturbances, Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
They claimed that the neuropsychologist concluded that Jeffries exhibited cognitive impairment, including impaired memory, attention, slow processing speed and ease of confusion.
Jeffries “doesn’t even come close to a person with a master’s degree who was CEO of a publicly traded company just nine years earlier,” attorney Brian Bieber argued. according to Bloomberg.
He then questioned whether Jeffries could “rationally assist his attorneys on a sustained and consistent basis in connection with the potential factual and legal defenses to the charges he faced.”
Defense attorneys and prosecutors have now agreed to let the expert who examined Jeffries testify at a two-day competency hearing in June.
In the meantime, Jeffries remains free on $10 million bail after pleading not guilty to charges that he sexually assaulted 15 young male models between 2008 and 2015.
Prosecutors have alleged that he, his partner Matthew Smith and alleged fixer James Jacobson lured the men to drug-fueled sex parties in the Hamptons by promising them they would model for the retailer’s advertisements.
Lawyers representing former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, 80, (center) in his sex trafficking and prostitution case have claimed he has dementia and will face a hearing to determine whether he can face the vile charges to see.
Prosecutors have alleged that he, his partner Matthew Smith (right) and alleged fixer James Jacobson (left) lured the men to drug-fueled sex parties in the Hamptons by promising them they would model for the ads. shopkeeper.
They allege that Jacobson traveled throughout the U.S. and abroad recruiting and interviewing men for the sex parties, using the nicknames “Jim Jake,” “Mrs. Cook’ and ‘Todd.’
Jacobson would then conduct “tryouts” with potential candidates by paying them to have sex with him. At Smith’s direction, Jacobson is also accused of paying fees to individuals who referred men for the sex parties in the Hamptons.
The alleged victims have said they believed that attending the sex parties could land them modeling opportunities at Abercrombie and that their careers could suffer if they did not comply.
The victims were “financially vulnerable,” prosecutors argued. according to NBC Newswith the youngest being only 19 years old.
The sex parties used Abercrombie products, with the victims given itineraries that did not mention commercial sex and “resembled the itineraries often sent to models for photo shoots.”
Staffers controlled the parties’ entrance and exit and demanded that the victims surrender their wallets and cellphones and sign a confidentiality agreement, according to the criminal complaint.
But prosecutors say the aspiring models were never told “the full extent and nature of the sexual activity that would be required” — which allegedly included “anal intercourse, the insertion of large sex toys into the anus, and high-pressure enemas that were administered by inserting a tube into the anus.’
Jeffries’ reign at Abercrombie & Fitch was dominated by the controversial brand image and the equally controversial comments he made about his customer base
They claim staff members gave the men muscle relaxants known as ‘poppers’, as well as lubricant, Viagra and condoms.
At times, Smith and Jeffries also allegedly injected “an erection-inducing drug” into their penises, which caused painful reactions that lasted for hours and prompted them to perform sexual acts “which they were otherwise unable or unwilling to perform.” ‘
The victims were also allegedly paid to travel to New York City, England, France, Italy, Morocco and Saint Barthelemy to have sex with Jeffries, Smith and others.
When witnesses threatened to reveal what was going on, Jeffries and Smith used a security company to monitor them and intimidate them into silence, prosecutors said.
A lawsuit finds that Jeffries “doesn’t even come close to a person with a master’s degree who was CEO of a publicly traded company just nine years earlier.”
When Jeffries appeared in court in October to plead not guilty to one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution, he sometimes acted as if he were hearing impaired.
When Jeffries appeared in court in October to plead not guilty to one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution, he sometimes acted as if he were hearing impaired.
You often saw him talking to his lawyers when the judge asked him certain questions.
Nevertheless, he seemed very alert. He looked at the victims several times, but never even looked at Jacobson, who was standing behind him.
The former CEO then appeared expressionless as he followed his family members and his attorney out of the courtroom as Jacobson’s proceedings began.
Between 1992 and 2014 he was CEO of Abercrombie, famous for its homoerotic advertising.
But his reputation eventually fell apart thanks to Netflix’s White Hot documentary, which exposed abuse. Abercrombie workers and models say they have suffered.