NEW YORK — Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, his romantic partner and a third man were arrested Tuesday on charges of luring men into drug-laced, outlandish and coercive sex parties held around the world by dangling the promise of modeling for the big retailer’s once-defining hunky ads.

For almost 20 years, Jeffries, partner Matthew Smith and their employee James Jacobson used Jeffries’ status, wealth and a web of household staffers to fulfill the couple’s sexual desires in what amounted to an international sex trafficking and prostitution business — and to keep it all secret, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn.

“To anyone who thinks they can exploit and coerce others by using the so-called casting couch system, this case should serve as a warning,” Brooklyn-based U.S. attorney Breon Peace said at a news conference.

“Sexually exploiting vulnerable human beings is a crime. And doing so by dangling dreams of a future in fashion or modeling ... is no different,” he added. James Dennehy, the assistant director of the FBI’s New York office, called the allegations “abhorrent.”

They follow and sometimes echo sexual misconduct accusations made in lawsuits and the media by young people who said Jeffries promised modeling work and then pressed them into sex acts.

Jeffries on Tuesday smiled but didn’t comment as he left a federal courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, after being released on a $10 million bond. His attorney, Brian Bieber, also didn’t comment.

Smith, a dual U.S.-British citizen, was ordered detained after prosecutors raised concerns that he might flee the country.

His lawyers, Joseph Nascimento and David Raben, and Bieber said by email they would respond to the allegations in court “when appropriate.”

Jacobson didn’t address the charges during his court appearance in St. Paul, Minnesota, other than to say, “I understand what they claim,” or as he left the courthouse on $500,000 bond.

Jacobson has said previously that he didn’t engage in or know about any coercive, deceptive or forceful behavior.

The three are charged with sex trafficking and interstate prostitution involving 15 unnamed accusers.

According to the indictment, they paid for dozens of men to travel within the U.S. and internationally to engage in paid sex with them and other men in New York and at hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts between 2008 and 2015. The sometimes graphic indictment describes sexual bacchanals in which the recruited men were given drugs, lubricant, condoms, costumes, sex toys and, sometimes, erection-inducing penile injections that caused painful, hourslong reactions.

The men weren’t informed of all that the events would entail, including some of the sexual practices they’d be expected to engage in, and they were required to give up their clothes and cellphones during the gatherings and sign nondisclosure agreements afterward, the indictment said.

The defendants led the men to believe that attending the events would help their careers, including their chances of getting Abercrombie modeling gigs — or that not complying could harm their prospects, the indictment says.

Jeffries and Smith employed Jacobson to recruit and hire the men, who typically had to undergo “tryouts” by having sex with Jacobson first, according to the indictment. It says other, unnamed household staffers also helped facilitate the events, including by acting as security and providing alcohol, muscle relaxants, Viagra and other items.

The men were subjected to some sex acts without consent, and when witnesses threatened to expose what was going on, Jeffries and Smith used a security company to surveil and intimidate them into silence, according to a letter that prosecutors filed in court.