Names of alleged clients in high-profile Massachusetts brothel bust read in court
The names of twelve of the alleged clients facing criminal charges in a high-end brothel bust in Massachusetts were read aloud in Cambridge District Court on Friday.
There are 28 alleged johns connected to a sex ring that was run out of upscale apartment buildings in Cambridge, Dedham and Watertown, as well as Virginia. Authorities say it catered to "wealthy and well-connected" customers.
"They are doctors, they are lawyers, they're accountants, they are executives at high-tech companies, pharmaceutical companies, they're military officers, government contractors, professors, scientists," former U.S. attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy said at the time of the bust in November 2023.
There were no elected officials on the first list, but there is a pharmaceutical CEO, a dentist, and finance executive.
Of the 12 men with hearings Friday, two actually showed up, six sent just their lawyers and four did not attend at all.
Cambridge police claim these men paid over $300 an hour to have sex with Korean women as part of a brothel run inside a Cambridge apartment complex.
"For example, GFE refers to a girlfriend experience, and provides a more intimate experience and blurs the boundaries between a financial transaction and relationship," said Cambridge Police Lt. Jarred Cabral. "Typically including any and all sex acts."
The 12 men will be arraigned in May on the criminal charges. Twelve more alleged johns will be in court next Friday for more probable cause hearings.
Protests outside court
The alleged johns were heckled by protesters as they left court. One woman felt compelled to show up because she lived doors down from the brothel.
"That was quite concerning and then even more concerning, is that these women from a foreign country were being isolated and trafficked on my floor," said the woman who did not want to be identified.
Others, including a sex work survivor, protested the alleged johns, relieved that the judge filed charges.
"You never hold the buyers accountable; you won't end the demand," said Dr. Stacy Reed Barnes. "You justify it, you rationalize it, and here we are today suffering some more. So, it's not OK."
Alleged johns fought to remain anonymous
More than a dozen of the alleged clients fought to remain anonymous.
"They will undoubtedly lose their jobs, lose their professions and have their lives ripped apart," attorney Benjamin Urbelis, representing five alleged brothel clients, argued before the Supreme Judicial Court.
But the high court ruled that the media will have access to preliminary court hearings for the alleged clients, siding with the clerk-magistrate who said the "legitimate public interest" in the case outweighed the defendants' privacy rights. The magistrate will decide Friday whether some of the alleged johns will face charges.
Guilty pleas in brothel bust
Three defendants, Han Lee, Junmyung Lee and James Lee have already pleaded guilty for their roles in running the brothel network.
Prosecutors said James Lee fraudulently applied for and received more than $580,000 in COVID relief funds by submitting fake tax documents and using names of businesses that did not exist.
