# Patriots owner Robert Kraft charged in Florida prostitution sting **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 22, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034 "2019-02-22T18:26:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/21 "2019-02-23T01:42:15Z")
Uhhhh, guys? > ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/22 "2019-02-23T01:49:52Z")
Damn, Bob - you can afford somebody classy and discreet who makes house calls, and you go to a tawdry strip mall instead? The _hell_? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/23 "2019-02-23T01:56:27Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Uhhhh, guys? > > [https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/509685152159903744?s=19](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/509685152159903744?s=19) Uhhhh, not the same Jupiter Spa. > **[Donald Trump would probably like to have these tweets back about Robert Kraft...](https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/tweets-robert-kraft-jupiter-spas-trump/16183/)** > > ... ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/24 "2019-02-23T02:03:02Z")
True, but I’m not a guy who swallows coincidences easily. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/25 "2019-02-23T02:21:46Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > True, but I’m not a guy who swallows coincidences easily. Heh heh, he said “swallows”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/26 "2019-02-23T02:32:09Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Heh heh, he said “swallows”. If that’s what he wanted, he should have gone to San Juan Capistrano. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/27 "2019-02-23T03:23:26Z")
It’s been 17 years and a lot of locals have boycotted the NFL entirely since the Rams left, but the good people of St. Louis are STILL convinced that the Patriots cheated in Superbowl XXXVI. And personally, I’m happy to be able to use the word _schadenfreude_ in a sentence. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/28 "2019-02-23T04:26:50Z")
It’s definitely weird that he went to a strip mall for any reason. And I hate the Patriots like most people. BUUUT…the CBS Evening News led with this story, and the anchor talked about it with the somber tones and gravely serious face of someone describing a torture dungeon being discovered under Kraft’s house or something. “Stunning” and “shocking” were bandied about. Srsly? I’m not able to muster any outrage, personally. And to hide video comeras in this place? Jesus. Whatever you think of the morality of any of this, is this a good priority for taxpayers to fund? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/29 "2019-02-23T05:03:03Z")
If they were able to rescue women who were trafficked and forced into prostitution, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/30 "2019-02-23T05:09:17Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > If they were able to rescue women who were trafficked and forced into prostitution, yes. Yes, this. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/31 "2019-02-23T05:32:10Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > #FellateGate > #BateGate Inflategate was mine ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/32 "2019-02-23T06:30:57Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > If they were able to rescue women who were trafficked and forced into prostitution, yes. I don’t have hard facts to bring to bear here, but on a recent episode of the Slate feminist podcast “The Waves” (which used to be called “DoubleX” before they changed it so as not to exclude XY transwomen) they made a convincing case that most of the talk of “human trafficking” is just cover for the same old moralistic criminalizing of sex work, and that the vast majority of female sex workers are not enslaved and would benefit more than anything from legalization and licensing. ETA: Furthermore, if that is what the sting is about, why arrest the johns? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/33 "2019-02-23T06:57:48Z")
Dude, cigerettes are (regretably) legal, but there is still a 100 billion dollar smuggling industry. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/34 "2019-02-23T09:03:49Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I don’t have hard facts to bring to bear here, but on a recent episode of the Slate feminist podcast “The Waves” (which used to be called “DoubleX” before they changed it so as not to exclude XY transwomen) they made a convincing case that most of the talk of “human trafficking” is just cover for the same old moralistic criminalizing of sex work, and that the vast majority of female sex workers are not enslaved and would benefit more than anything from legalization and licensing. Reportedly the women weren’t allowed to leave the premises and were forced to work and live there. > **[Police describe deplorable conditions at spa in Robert Kraft sex sting](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/orchids-of-asia-day-spa-jupiter-police-describe-deplorable-conditions-at-spa-in-robert-kraft-sex-sting/)** > > Kraft was among 25 people charged as part of a widespread crackdown on sex trafficking **“Authorities described how the women worked in deplorable conditions, were lured into the sex trade, and averaged 1,500 men a year.** > **[Victims of alleged human-trafficking ring that ensnared Robert Kraft were...](https://www.businessinsider.com/robert-kraft-arrest-sex-trafficking-ring-bust-women-sex-against-will-2019-2)** > > The arrest was part of a bust for what police said was a human-trafficking and prostitution ring in Florida that involved spas and massage parlors. \*\*The victims were forced to live in the spas for days, sometimes months, “for the purpose of sexual servitude,” according to the charges. Many of them came from China on temporary work visas, believing they’d get legitimate jobs in the US, Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey said in a press conference. “These girls are there all day long, into the evening. They can’t leave and they’re performing sex acts,” he said. “Some of them may tell us they’re OK, but they’re not.”\*\* These aren’t just women making a choice to go into prostitution and being treated like victims/criminals for bad choices. They’re sex slaves, or at least indentured servants according to law enforcement. > [@](#): > > ETA: Furthermore, if that is what the sting is about, why arrest the johns? By arresting Johns they are trying to curb the demand, which will hopefully hinder the sex trafficking industry. And it’s not just the criminal charges that will dissuade johns, but the public humiliation and destruction of reputations. Especially for a powerful person like Kraft. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/35 "2019-02-23T11:49:48Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Inflategate was mine I bow to your mastery. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/36 "2019-02-23T12:52:27Z")
Billionaire Trump supporter and major GOP donor John Childs is also caught up in this thing: > **[Florida human trafficking: Billionaire equity firm owner John Childs wanted...](https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/indian-river-county/2019/02/22/billionaire-john-childs-charged-florida-human-trafficking-prostitution-ring/2953948002/)** > > John Childs, a seasonal resident of Indian River Shores, is the former president of Ducks Unlimited's Wetlands America Trust. > [@](#): > > He’s a prominent donor to several Republican politicians and groups, including former U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Club for Growth and 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney. > > He donated about $4.3 million to Republican candidates and PACslast cycle, according to a review of federal campaign finance records. > > His largest donation, $250,000, went to America First Action, a pro-Donald Trump super PAC. Senate Conservative Action, Freedom Partners Action Fund and the National Republican Senate Committee. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/37 "2019-02-23T16:04:14Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > These aren’t just women making a choice to go into prostitution and being treated like victims/criminals for bad choices. They’re sex slaves, or at least indentured servants according to law enforcement. Indeed. If the facts are as stated, this \*was \*a case that merited intervention. That free-choice sexwork is currently being also swept by the whole wave about “trafficking” (which oftentimes is just common pimping under a fancier name), to the point of making voluntary sex workers’ lives harder (e.g. FOSTA/SESTA) is a separate matter. > [@](#): > > By arresting Johns they are trying to curb the demand, which will hopefully hinder the sex trafficking industry. And it’s not just the criminal charges that will dissuade johns, but the public humiliation and destruction of reputations. Especially for a powerful person like Kraft. Indeed – you go for the demand side and shake up a few “respectable gentlemen” so others in their circles think twice, or at least do their due diligence about where do they take their business. And BTW it has been alluded to before in passing, but notice how the Big News seems to be the involvement of Kraft and Childs and how this may hurt them. Not the pimping operation or the welfare of the women. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/38 "2019-02-23T18:14:47Z")
Could this be the hooker? [![](https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5298d4fb512450e60f3003712ee685437608fe6b0b1b102418d580a8c36ea6a9.png) ](https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5298d4fb512450e60f3003712ee685437608fe6b0b1b102418d580a8c36ea6a9.png) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/39 "2019-02-24T07:27:34Z")
News flash: Rich, fat, old businessman hires hookers. Stop the presses! Meanwhile, how much was it Chump paid at least one porn star? And how many Russian prostitutes did he pay to piss all over him? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2019, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034/40 "2019-02-24T07:56:29Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I bow to your mastery. Isn’t that what Kraft got in trouble for? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/patriots-owner-robert-kraft-charged-in-florida-prostitution-sting/830034.md?page=3)