MEDFORD — Cambridge police are seeking criminal charges against 28 alleged clients of a highly publicized sex ring under federal investigation, and the public will be have some access to information that comes from the proceedings. The three alleged ring leaders of the so-called brothel in Massachusetts and Virginia were arrested in early November. All are currently behind bars and face several federal criminal charges. When the brothel bust was first announced, U.
Attorney Joshua Levy would not identify the alleged clients, only claiming that they include high-powered elected officials, doctors, lawyers, accountants and more. Weeks later, Cambridge Police say they are seeking criminal charges in state court against 28 alleged clients who participated in the brothel. Because these men have not been arrested, they are entitled to a probable cause hearing in Cambridge District Court, during which a clerk magistrate judge will listen to evidence to determine whether there is probable cause to file criminal charges.
Typically, these probable cause hearings are private. But due to media requests, a clerk magistrate will grant the press access, meaning the "johns" could be identified soon. While the hearings will be public, the names of the potential defendants — and any evidence against them — will not be, until probable cause is found, according to the court.
It's unclear so far how this will work, but it appears that the hearings will be scheduled and made public, while no names will be involved until the hearings actually happen. Urbelis would not identify his clients nor say how many there are, but said he has been working with them since news first broke of the sting at the federal level. Attorney Wendy Murphy, who heads the Women's and Children's Advocacy Project at New England Law, said the decision to publicize typically private hearings is the right one.
Murphy had previously told WBZ-TV anchor David Wade in a segment that aired in early November that she would "eat her shoe" if the johns were named, saying "it's never going to happen. In a follow up interview, Murphy said, "The way to stop sex trafficking — the best way — and the studies show this over and over again is to stop the demand. We have to identify the men who are using and abusing these women…name them. Cambridge District Court, which is actually in Medford, is currently starting the process of scheduling these probable cause hearings.
