While the Robert Kraft sex tapes are under court orders to remain private — for now — an alleged leak prompted a judge Tuesday to question how the videos have been safeguarded since Jupiter Police used the secret cameras at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa.
Those videos led to Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, being charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution from January visits to the massage parlor. After the sting, police also charged 24 other “johns,” as well as the owner and manager of the business.
At an emergency hearing Tuesday, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Joseph Marx denied a request from the lawyers for the alleged madams to hold Jupiter Police and the State Attorney’s Office in contempt of court over the alleged leak.
The defense attorneys said they were reacting to a celebrity news website’s report Thursday that it had been in contact with someone seeking to sell a copy of video showing Kraft. TheBlast.com reported that its representatives had seen a sample of the footage and determined it was “legit.”
But Marx said he did not have enough information “at this juncture” to justify sanctions in the case. Both prosecutors and police said the videos have been under “lock and key.”
Assistant State Attorney Greg Kridos said his office and police had been unfairly “disparaged through this process.”
“It’s egregious that they came and accused the Jupiter Police Department and my office of committing a crime,” Kridos said.
Still, the judge asked for an accounting of how many copies of the videos exist, and how they have been protected. And he is allowing the defense lawyers to question representatives from the website that reported the video was being “shopped.”
Kraft’s lawyers said they have watched the videos in private with a Jupiter Police detective but have not requested official copies. The lawyers said they believe The Blast’s reporting was accurate.
“I thought that this was a credible account that it was a video related to this case,” Alex Spiro, one of Kraft’s lawyers, said during the hearing. He added that he has asked the website not to purchase the purported copy or publish it.