Dozens of Boston Men Face Charges in Brothel Case

Eager to enter an exclusive establishment near Harvard University, biotech executives, doctors, lawyers and politicians filled out applications and handed over IDs, work badges and personal references. This elite club was a high-end brothel charging up to $600 an hour for sexual encounters in luxury apartments in Cambridge, Mass. Now, that trove of personal information is serving as evidence in a series of criminal hearings that have pulled back the curtain on upscale sex work. Dozens of prominent Boston-area men, who lost a legal battle for anonymity, are facing misdemeanor charges that have caused major public fallout, the Wall Street Journal reports. Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner, among the alleged sex buyers, is confronting calls for his resignation and has been stripped of committee assignments. Others have left high-profile posts in business and medicine without explanation. Most have avoided the closely watched proceedings, dubbed “The Cambridge Brothel Hearings” by local media, where names—more than 30 so far—have emerged in batches.  While naming and shaming johns is a longstanding deterrent against prostitution, police typically target sex traffickers and workers. In this case, a desire by prosecutors to target buyers, legal action by media organizations, and the brothel’s impeccable customer records pushed the clientele into the spotlight.

The brothel, where young Asian women used names like Tulip and Tiki, also operated just outside Washington, D.C., but Virginia prosecutors declined to pursue charges against johns there. “They chose these locations because they were trying to attract rich and powerful men who wanted to buy sex,” said Leah Foley, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, whose office referred 34 alleged buyers to Cambridge authorities and a separate batch to Virginia. Han Lee, the 42-year-old madam, received a four-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to induce women into prostitution and money laundering. Courts ordered her to forfeit $5.5 million. Attorneys for 13 men accused of buying sex fought to keep their names private, arguing before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that they were “private citizens who face adverse and embarrassing collateral consequences if their name and image are published.” The court ruled the hearings should be made public. Anti-sex-trafficking groups are heartened. “I would hope that them getting named makes others think about twice what they’re doing,” said Ivette Monge, a survivor who works with the nonprofit Ready Inspire Act In Cambridge, the brothel ran out of a swanky condo complex that touts “unrivaled city views.” Lee, the madam, was picky. She demanded potential clients provide information such as work IDs and references from existing customers or other brothels. Prosecutors allege Lee vetted clients in part to screen out law enforcement. Her attorney argued she did so because she cared about the safety of her workers. Born into poverty in South Korea, she was a sex worker for years before becoming a madam.