Judges won’t prevent the release of sex videos recorded during a massage parlor sting, in rulings this week against men claiming an “invasion of privacy.”
The orders in Martin County Court come at the same time New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is battling to keep videos from getting out in his solicitation-of-prostitution case in Palm Beach County.
In late February, the Martin County Sheriff’s Office and Jupiter Police separately announced that court-approved secret cameras were installed at several massage parlors.
The recordings resulted in prostitution charges against dozens of men called “johns,” and the women, or madams, who operated the businesses.
Kraft, a 77-year-old Massachusetts billionaire with a home in Palm Beach, is the most recognizable figure from the busts.
Last week, Kraft’s legal team made some of the same arguments for blocking the videos as the men in the now-decided Martin County cases. Kraft’s request, which was joined by many of the 24 other men charged with him, is pending before a Palm Beach County judge.
This week’s orders by Martin County Judges Kathleen H. Roberts and Darren Steele denied requests for a so-called “protective order” concerning the videos, and also canceled April 17 hearings on the matter.
The judges wrote that the men had moved to prevent disclosure of the videos under a Florida rule that “protects a witness from invasion of privacy and undue embarrassment as it relates to a deposition.”
The judges pointed out that those facing charges were criminal defendants and “not merely a witness.”
Richard Kibbey, a defense lawyer who represents 12 of the accused, said he was disappointed by the rulings but vowed to file an appeal.
“This is going to have to be ruled on by the appellate court,” he said, adding that he sought the protective order on other grounds such as ensuring his clients have a right to a fair trial.
Regardless of the appeal, this week’s rulings do not “open the floodgates” for the Sheriff’s Office to release the videos, Kibbey said.
“I don’t believe the sheriff is in a hurry to release it” without a court order, he said.
There still are other pending arguments against the use of the videos in the case.
At an April 24 hearing before Judge Roberts, Kibbey will argue prosecutors should not be allowed to use the videos as evidence in the case. The lawyer contends investigators violated a warrant concerning the video cameras, making the evidence off-limits.
Kibbey said the court’s permission for “electronic surveillance authorized the police to only ‘monitor’ the activities in the massage rooms, not to ‘record’ those activities.”