Jailers have placed sex trafficking suspect Sean “Diddy” Combs on “procedural” suicide watch as the music mogul awaits trial on three charges related to more than a decade of alleged abuse, a source said.
Combs has been in federal custody in New York since Monday night, and guards at the Metropolitan Detention Center are keeping a close eye on him in case the defendant tries to harm himself, a source familiar with the situation told NBC News.
The source described the suicide watch as “procedural with high-profile clients.”
Combs “remains strong and focused on his defense,” the source added.
A judge on Wednesday denied Combs’ appeal for bail, but his defense attorneys are considering additional legal action in hopes of freeing their client before trial.
Combs, 54, faces three felony counts, accusing him of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution in acts dating back to 2008.
Prosecutors accused the popular rapper of using his money and power to organize degrading, and sometimes physically abusive, sexual acts known as “freak offs.”
The sexual acts, which lasted for hours and days, were produced, directed and recorded by Combs, who allegedly “threatened and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires,” prosecutors said.
The federal agent said he seized more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and other lubricants from Combs’ homes that were used in the sex acts.
