San Francisco, CA– The Erotic Service Providers Legal Education and Research Project (ESPLERP), a sex worker activist group, recently called out national media organizations for attempting to make private information public.
Organizations highlighted by the call-out include the Associated Press, ESPN, ABC and the New York Times. ESPLERP addressed these organizations’ efforts to make public private video recordings obtained during the massage parlor sting involving New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. For those that don’t recall, Kraft is one of dozens of spa patrons accused of receiving “illicit massages” at a spa in Jupiter, FL.
“These media organizations claim a public interest in releasing these videos. In truth all they care about is their ratings — because ‘sex sells.’ Shame on them,” said Maxine Doogan of ESPLERP.
Doogan continued, “They know that shaming a prominent businessman like Robert Kraft will sell papers and draw in viewers. When ratings are at stake, they simply do not care about anyone’s constitutional right to privacy. I wonder how they’d feel if Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. — the owner of the New York Times — was caught up in something like this?”
In spite of these medias’ best worst efforts, a Florida judge was able to put a stop to this alleged sensation-seeking.
“We applaud Judge Kathleen Roberts for seeing through the police misrepresentations and ruling that the videos are inadmissible,” said Claire Alwyne of ESPLERP.
Apparently, the police obtained a “sneak and peek” warrant, a.k.a. a Delayed Notice Warrant, which authorizes law enforcement officers to physically enter private premises without the owner’s or the occupant’s permission or knowledge. According to ESPLERP, this type of warrant was apparently authorized under the PATRIOT Act and is used to film surveillance videos.
Investigators claimed trafficking was occurring inside the premises, and detectives then spent more than six months getting massages from the alleged sex slaves — all before arresting them on prostitution, not trafficking, charges.
“The public would probably be more interested in seeing videos of detectives getting tax payer-funded massages — and who knows what else — filmed during the six month sting prior to arresting the massage parlor workers,” said Domina Elle of ESPLERP. “The public deserves to see how these stings are conducted, such as how often law enforcement engages in sexual contact as a means to investigate and arrest.”
ESPLERP feels that media organizations should not be arguing in court for improperly obtained private videos to be made public. “Media organizations should instead put more effort into avoiding repeating false and misleading statistics, which fuel these stings in the first place… Law enforcement should not be wasting time arresting adults engaged in consensual activity,” the organization stated in a press release.
ESPLERP calls on legislators in all fifty states to decriminalize sex work immediately.
Image by George Becker via Pexels.
