Federal judge orders massage parlor videos of Robert Kraft, others destroyed
Robert Kraft’s legal issues in Florida seem to finally be behind him for good.
A federal judge in Florida ordered on Friday that a video allegedly showing the New England Patriots owner paying for sex at a massage parlor be destroyed, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II ruled that any videos of Kraft and other customers at the massage parlor be destroyed and “wiped from existence,” because the surveillance was already deemed unlawful. The order didn’t cite Kraft by name.
Robert Kraft had solicitation charges dropped
Kraft, 79, was charged in February 2019 in a sting aimed at breaking up prostitution rings at massage parlors in Florida. Police had installed surveillance cameras in both the lobby and rooms at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida, as part of the sting.
Police, who allegedly had footage of Kraft receiving oral sex at the spa, said they needed footage from inside the spa to confirm its investigations and tried to have it released. Kraft’s legal team, however, argued that the footage is “basically pornography.”
An appeals court had ruled that Kraft’s rights were violated by law enforcement and that the video couldn’t be used in trial — something Florida prosecutors said they wouldn’t challenge.
Because of that, charges against Kraft and nearly two dozen other men were dropped. Friday’s new ruling will ensure that the footage of Kraft from the spa is never released — something he feared would eventually be leaked to the internet.
Videos from the spa had been sealed under court orders, and will be destroyed under the supervision of a “neutral third party” in the near future.
Kraft pleaded not guilty to the charges initially, but did apologize for his involvement. The NFL has not punished Kraft, either, though could do so under its personal conduct policy. The league had long said that it would wait to do so if it does at all, as it did not want to interfere with an ongoing legal investigation.
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