Diddy verdict 'will deter survivors from coming forward,' domestic abuse prevention advocate reacts

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Disgraced hip-hop icon Sean "Diddy" Combs was convicted of two prostitution-related offense but acquitted of three charges involving racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking.

For some survivors of sexual assault, the wildly-publicized Combs trial wasn't just about the future of the infamous music mogul. It was also a trial about the limits of the law when it comes to domestic and sexual violence.

The outcome of this trial "will deter survivors from coming forward," asserted Wendy Linsalata of survivor advocacy group Long Island Against Domestic Violence.

Prosecutors chose to pursue trafficking charges, knowing the statute of limitations had already expired for charges like sexual assault and battery.

Experts tell Eyewitness News that laws don't always account for the time it takes domestic violence survivors to come forward. Trauma and fear know no statute of limitations.

"I understand when something just can't fit within the parameters of the law," Linsalata remarked. "Fear is the number one reason that deters people from coming forward."

This case is "an example of the struggles survivors go through, even those with proof, just to move a criminal case forward," said Cassie Ventura's attorney Douglas Wigdor.

Ventura "endured ten years of abuse where she had to engage in days-long sexual acts with UTIs... she alleged that she was raped," Wigdor added.

Bringing a criminal case against Combs was vital to Cassie Ventura's search for justice.

However, while the jury found Combs guilty of two lesser charges related to prostitution, they declared him not guilty of two counts of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering conspiracy.

The partial verdict sends mixed messages to survivors and their advocates.

"No amount of money is ever going to ever undo what she had to endure," Wigdor said.

"It feels like there is no protection for women," one woman in Times Square told Eyewitness News. "There is no justice for us at any turn."