A few weeks ago in Jupiter, Florida, a massage parlor was raided after having been under investigation for suspected human sex trafficking.

Roughly 200 customers were caught attending the parlor, but only a fraction were charged for soliciting prostitution. Many of the customers of the spa, Orchids of Asia, were wealthy individuals from the prestigious town of Jupiter. Some of the men included big names such as former president of Citigroup John Haven and John Childs, founder of the private equity firm of J.W. Childs Associate.

The biggest name amongst those, however, was Robert Kraft, the current owner of the New England Patriots.

The Orchids of Asia had been under investigation since the summer of 2018 after a tip had been given to Jupiter police by law enforcement from Martin County. Police officers then began to look at the massage parlor more closely and monitor its activity.

They noticed that there were innuendos in the reviews for the sexual services that were provided by the spa. A local restaurant owner a couple of stores down also commented on the suspicious activity that he would witness. He stated that there would be girls that would come out of the parlor and walk around the mall but not speak to anyone or purchase anything. On one occasion, the restaurant owner offered one of the girls a slice of pizza, but she did not take anything despite looking malnourished.

In November, police had started watching surveillance videos of the Orchids of Asia and quickly noticed that a lot of the clientele were men, despite the more female-oriented listed services that were advertised.

Shortly after, a Florida health inspector had gone into the spa to assess the conditions of the business on behalf of the police. The inspector noticed some unusual objects that showed evidence that people were living there. There were dressers with personal belongings of the masseuses, a couple of beds, hot plates on the ground which were used by the women to cook, and a refrigerator that did have food.

Later on in January, police began to follow the men leaving the massage parlor, pull them over for a traffic violation and would then confront them about the spa. After this, police faked a bomb demolition in order to get into the spa and set up surveillance cameras. They continued to observe the spa until they conjured up an affidavit of probable cause with what each person would be charged with. The police then raided the spa on February 19. At least one person involved was charged with human trafficking and others were charged with money laundering, racketeering and prostitution.

It was through these videos that Robert Kraft was identified by police entering and staying in the business for about 45 minutes at a time. He was videotaped inside of the parlor on two different occasions and is now being charged with two misdemeanors for soliciting prostitution.

It is unclear whether Kraft was aware of the magnitude of the trafficking, or even aware that human trafficking was taking place at the establishment. Kraft is pleading not guilty and is due to appear in court on March 27.

Kraft and the Patriots have seen much success since he purchased the team in 1994, winning six Super Bowls and amassing 18 playoff appearances. It is also unclear if the NFL will hold Kraft responsible for the incident.