Diddy was caught on camera beating his then-girlfriend, Cassie.

The vicious 2016 assault in a Century City hotel, which just leaked yesterday, effectively ends Puff's long career.

But it won't be what sends him to prison, as the statute of limits has passed.

“We find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch,” the office of L.A. District Attorney George Gascón wrote on Instagram.   “If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted.”

That doesn't mean The Diddler is out of the woods with the law.

The Feds are investigating him for human trafficking and other crimes.