Court hearings for the 28 “wealthy and well-connected” men accused of being customers of an interstate commercial sex ring that ran high-end brothels in two Massachusetts communities resumed Friday in a Cambridge courtroom.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November that the hearings would be public. The hearings are taking place in Cambridge District Court.
Eleven new alleged brothel customers from Massachusetts and New Hampshire were identified Friday and Cambridge Police Lieutenant Jarred Cabral detailed the allegations against them as he read from police reports:
Steven Riel, of Laconia, New Hampshire
Nathaniel Welch, of Concord, Massachusetts
Jeff Henry, of Exeter, New Hampshire
Fred Rosenthal, of Marblehead, Massachusetts
Timothy Ackerson, of Waltham, Massachusetts
Matthew Fulton, of Belmont, Massachusetts
Howard Redmond, of Tewksbury, Massachusetts
Anurag Bajpayee, of Cambridge, Massachusetts
Paul Toner, of Cambridge, Massachusetts
Paul Grant, of Charlestown, Massachusetts
James Cusack Jr., of Boston, Massachusetts
While none of the men appeared in court, Cambridge District Court Clerk Sharon Casey informed their counsel that she would file charges against all of them.
Additional names are expected to be announced throughout the afternoon as individual cases are called.
Last week, the names of a dozen accused sex buyers, from communities including Winchester, Lincoln, Concord, Newton, and Waltham, were made public.
The attorneys for the Boston-area “John Does” identified in the black books of the sophisticated interstate high-end brothel network have desperately tried to keep their identities private, arguing that revealing their names violates their privacy.
In 2023, then-acting Boston U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said the clientele of the brothels included politicians, big pharma executives, government contractors with security clearances, professors, lawyers, accountants, and scientists.
Probable cause hearings in the high-profile brothel case are also scheduled for March 28. No continuances will be granted, absent extraordinary circumstances.
A pair of Boston-based media outlets had filed to view criminal complaints against the alleged clients of a prostitution ring, however, the SJC also sided with the clerk’s decision to keep the complaints sealed until the first show-cause hearings are held in Cambridge District Court.
In November 2023, authorities arrested Han Lee, Junmyung Lee, and James Lee on charges of running a commercial sex network in Watertown, Cambridge, and Virginia, where buyers paid up to $600 per hour for a wide array of advertised sex acts.
Han Lee, the 42-year-old leader interstate commercial sex ring, was sentenced earlier this week to four years in prison followed by one year of supervised release.
“Han Lee didn’t just recruit women to sell their bodies for sex – she built a criminal enterprise designed to thrive in the shadows, evading law enforcement while profiting off her victims like commodities,” U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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