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Hearing dates set for men accused of buying sex at Boston-area brothels
The probable cause hearings will mark the first public disclosure of the alleged brothel clients’ identities.
The 28 people accused of patronizing a Greater Boston brothel ring will make their initial court appearances in March, the Cambridge District Court clerk’s office announced this week.
The probable cause hearings on March 14, 21, and 28 will mark the first public disclosure of the alleged brothel clients’ identities.
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“No continuances will be granted, absent extraordinary circumstances,” the clerk’s office said Tuesday. Court documents for each of the alleged buyers will only be made available to the public if probable cause is found and the clerk issues a criminal complaint.
A November ruling from the state’s Supreme Judicial Court ensured the typically closed-door probable cause hearings will be public. The ruling upheld a 2023 decision from Cambridge District Court’s clerk-magistrate, who agreed to open the hearings following requests from several news outlets.
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Lawyers for the alleged johns had sought private hearings, arguing they should not be made to “run a gauntlet of voracious gossipers, media personnel, and onlookers.”
The alleged brothel customers’ identities have been a source of fervent speculation since November 2023, when federal prosecutors announced they had busted a high-end brothel network operating out of apartments in Cambridge, Watertown, and the Washington, D.C. suburbs. At the time, then-U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy said the “wealthy and well-connected clientele” included politicians, military officers, doctors, lawyers, and business executives.
“Pick a profession; they’re probably represented in this case,” he told reporters. “They are the men who fueled this commercial sex ring.”
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Two of the three people accused of operating the brothel network have since pleaded guilty to federal charges, and a third is in the process of negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors.
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