Sean "Diddy" Combs' sentencing hearing for a sordid criminal case involving his girlfriends and male sex workers opened on Friday (Saturday morning AEST) with prosecutors arguing the hip-hop mogul should be locked up for years while his children tearfully asked the judge to show mercy.

Prosecutors want 11 years in prison for Combs, 55, who was convicted by jurors in July of flying people around the country for marathon sexual encounters.

The jury acquitted him of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking that could have carried a life sentence.

Combs' lawyers want him freed immediately, as he has already served more than a year in pre-trial detention. They were presenting their sentencing recommendation early on Friday afternoon.

His nearly two-month trial in

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