Sean “Diddy” Combs was convicted Wednesday of prostitution-related offenses under the federal Mann Act, an anti-sex trafficking law with a century-old history.Though he was acquitted of more serious charges,

The law, passed in 1910, prohibits the interstate or foreign transportation of an individual for sex. It has at times been used as a tool for political persecution.

The Mann Act, otherwise known as the White-Slave Traffic Act, is a federal law that criminalizes the “transportation” of women and girls for “immoral purposes” After seven weeks in the courtroom, the jury in Sean "Diddy" Combs ' sex trafficking trial has reached a split verdict.