Men accused of paying for sex in high-end brothel ring appear in Cambridge court
A dozen men accused of paying for sex in a high-end brothel operation in Cambridge, Watertown and Virginia made their first court appearances on Friday.
Twelve men were arraigned in Cambridge District Court, charged with paying for commercial sex in connection with brothels operating out of Cambridge and Watertown apartments from 2020 to 2022, involving women trafficked predominantly from Asia.
Federal prosecutors arrested three people accused of running the brothel network in Massachusetts and Virginia, all of whom have pleaded guilty.
"All my clients entered not guilty pleas today. They remain innocent under the law. They were released under their own recognizance. They have no record and they're not public figures," said attorney Ben Urbelis, who represented nearly all of the defendants.
None of the defendants arraigned had any comment when they left court. None of the defendants have criminal records.
Federal prosecutors said the clients include politicians, corporate executives, military officers, professors and scientists who often paid a monthly membership fee, in addition to $350 to $600 more hourly for prostitution services.
According to court documents, some of the men set up more than 40 appointments with sex workers through the brothels.
During the initial show-cause hearings in March, Cambridge City Councilor Paul F. Toner and James Cusack Jr., the former director of Oncology Labs at Massachusetts General Hospital, were identified among the brothel's suspected clients.
Toner's formal arraignment is set for next Friday in Cambridge District Court.
In September 2024, Han Lee, the woman accused of running the brothel, pleaded guilty in federal court. Lee was sentenced to four years in prison.
Junmyung Lee, 31, of Dedham, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to persuade, induce, entice, and coerce one or more individuals to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
James Lee, 69, of Torrance, California, was also charged in the case.
The brothel operation used websites that falsely claimed to advertise nude models for professional photography, prosecutors allege. The operators rented high-end apartments to use as brothels in Watertown and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Tysons and Fairfax, Virginia, prosecutors said.