A lot of apparently high-profile customers of a brothel are seeking to remain anonymous in a court case involving a network of brothels that ran out of apartment complexes in Massachusetts and Virginia. 28 men in Massachusetts were identified as potential clients and face misdemeanor charges. Over a dozen of them have asked the state Supreme Court to decide if they can keep their names out of it.
Back in November 2023, federal authorities announced that three people had been all arrested for operating the network of brothels. The authorities gained access to the brothels’ client list. The US Attorney for Massachusetts, Joshua Levy, said of the men attempting to remain anonymous that “they are doctors, they are lawyers, they are accountants, they are executives at high-tech companies, pharmaceutical companies, they’re military officers, government contractors, professors, scientists. Pick a profession, they’re probably represented in this case.”
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Massachusetts law requires “show cause” hearings to be private. It’s a procedure designed to preserve privacy until formal charges are confirmed. Local media outlets, including the Boston Globe, WBUR, and NBC 10 Boston, say that the hearing should be open so everyone in the city can have a little bit more transparency to make sure there’s no corruption going on. For instance, hypothetically speaking, what if one of the high-profile men involved donated money to the judge’s campaign? That kind of thing.
Representing the media outlets, attorney Jeffrey Pyle argued that public access is essential for transparency. Benjamin Urbelis, the lawyer representing five of the currently-anonymous men in the case, argued before the state Supreme Court that the men deserved their privacy until charges were formally approved.
“They will undoubtedly lose their jobs, lose their professions, and have their lives ripped apart,” Urbelis said.
It will likely be weeks or even months before the issue is decided.
