Wealthy powerbrokers like Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft are drawn to sketchy rub-and-tug massage parlors for “the clandestine thrill,” said ex-NYPD sex crimes detective John Savino.
“A lot of it has to do with the danger of it, the excitement of getting away with it,” said the former New York City crime fighter, adding he doubted the 77-year-old Kraft wanted to be caught or expected to be.
“It’s just the ease of the mission being accomplished. There’s no strings attached.”
Savino, who lives in Florida and wrote a textbook for law-enforcement investigators on sex probes, says it’s rare to see parlors keep women captive, as the Orchids of Asia Day Spa allegedly did.
“I haven’t seen a lot of the trafficking,” he said. “My experience is that the women are there because they want to be there.”
But another local lawman, Martin County Sheriff William Snyder disagreed, saying, “These men held the keys to the women’s freedom. They were exploited, kept inside.”
Police sources say that South Florida is crawling with sex-for-sale massage parlors, a multibillion-dollar industry dominated by Chinese and Korean operators.
To be sure, there was nothing glamorous about Orchids of Asia, in a shopping mall off US Highway 1 in Jupiter, Fla., where cops say Kraft paid for sex acts with trafficked Chinese workers.
Kraft, who lives in a luxury rental at The Breakers resort, is not the only loaded client of the spa.
Also charged in the case were former Citigroup President John Havens, 62, and billionaire buyout king John Childs, 77, who lives in Indian River Shores and owns J.W. Childs Associates, a private equity firm based in Massachusetts.
They are among 25 accused johns whose names were released by cops. Police say that as many as 100 or so will be charged.
Nor is Kraft the only billionaire sports owner who in Palm Beach.
There’s also Philadelphia Phillies co-owner John Middleton, who built a $20 million house on 1.6 acres at 947 N. Ocean Blvd. in Palm Beach, and Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who owns a $28.75 million mansion at 1275 S. Ocean Blvd.
Other area residents or part-time residents include Karl Rove, Sean Hannity, Rudy Giuliani and Rush Limbaugh.
Additional reporting by Dana Schuster
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