Ring up a rare victory for transparency in the case of 28 alleged clients of a high-end sex brothel network in the Boston and Washington, D.C. area.
The walk of shame is soon coming for the alleged johns, who could be prominent politicians, business executives and military officers – even though they have yet to be formally charged.
A Massachusetts high court justice in a bombshell decision cleared the way for the “show cause hearings” for the accused clients to be open to the public.
“Opening the show cause hearings to the public…promotes transparency, accountability, and public confidence in the judiciary by demonstrating that each individual accused of these crimes, no matter their station in life, is treated equally,” Supreme Judicial Court Justice Frank Graziano said.
And this in Massachusetts, which is not exactly known for transparency and accountability. Just ask the Massachusetts Legislature.
The ruling by Graziano means that the brothel customers will be essentially punished before they are even formally charged or arrested.
But viewed through the lens of sex trafficking – not just mere prostitution – Graziano chose to err on the side of public disclosure.
No date for the hearings has been set yet.
Show cause hearings in Massachusetts are usually held behind closed doors but several media outlets appealed, arguing for them to be open.
Most of the 28 individuals alleged to be clients to the brothel network had argued to keep the hearings closed and their names not revealed to the public.
A lawyer for one of the alleged clients argued that by opening the hearings they would be exposed to “a gauntlet of voracious gossipers, media personnel and onlookers.”
Another attorney for one of the John Does argued that “no ordinary individual who availed himself of the services of a brothel could have anticipated being engulfed by a media firestorm which threatens to hold him up to public ridicule.”
Graziano did agree with a decision by the clerk magistrate of Cambridge District Court that keeps the applications for the complaints sealed.
Graziano said that opening the applications up would have created “collateral consequences for the individuals involved, and gratuitously expose non-public information that would otherwise remain private for those persons for whom no probable cause is established.”
But it’s still going to be a painful few weeks for the individuals who got caught up in the sting by federal prosecutors.
The case had already drawn national attention after prosecutors announced the arrests of three people accused of running the sex-for-hire ring in Cambridge, Watertown and the Washington, D.C. suburbs.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said the brothels served “a wealthy and well-connected clientele” and could be elected officials and other prominent people.
Since then, Boston has been buzzing with speculation about who may have been caught up in the sex ring. Now that speculation has escalated to a fever pitch.
