NEW YORK — R&B singer Cassie was pressed to read aloud her own explicit messages to ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs in federal court Thursday, including texts that showed her expressing desire for the drug-fueled group sex she previously testified left her traumatized.

Lawyers for Combs sought to portray Cassie to the jury as a willing and eager participant in the music mogul’s sexual lifestyle. Combs has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. His defense says that, while he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise.

Prosecutors say he exploited his status as a powerful music executive to violently force Cassie and other women into these marathon encounters with sex workers, called “freak-offs,” which sometimes lasted days. Combs insists all the sex was consensual. He’s also accused of using his entourage and employees to facilitate illegal activities, including prostitution-related transportation and coercion.

Messages between Combs and Cassie — both romantic and lurid — were the focus of the fourth day of testimony.

— The Associated Press