Zumba Trial

[Newly]

Although this may be controversial I am fascinated at what is going on in Maine and the potential fallout for the entire escort business. I know that many of us think that we are very discreet, but depending on records kept, calls made, and a million other things such as plea bargains and subpoenas that's an illusion. With modern technology who knows if video is captured, obviously no one in Maine knew. Is the danger part of the thrill? Is it safer to use an unknown hookup that is less likely to keep records and be of little interest to law enforcement? I don't have a clue but I was kind of hoping to get some thoughts from board members, I'm sure some of you have been following this.

[rvwnsd]

A little background information would be helpful. Could you post a link to a news story?

[Diverdan]

I second rvwnsd's request..

[Newly]

Sorry, its this insane trial in Maine that has gotten tons of publicity. She was basically a call girl with a business in a dance studio and among other things the names and addresses of her johns were published in the newspaper. Besides records of clients and how much they spent she was secretly videotaping clients in the act. Like in most areas the local DA is elected and this is the type of case they love...gets lots of publicity and shows that they are defending us from vice...God forbid they should use those resources to go after rapists pr murderers. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/03/30/maines-zumba-madam-avoids-trial-with-guilty-plea/

 

Don't really now how to insert links, but Google zumba trial and there are tons of results.

[nate_sf]

I first heard of this from a detailed story in Vanity Fair a month or so back:

 

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/20...t-prostitution

 

The story is long but very well written and a good read. It goes into a lot of detail and I think hits on a lot of the nuances of what happened.

 

I think what's made this newsworthy is that it is so unusual. Most escorts try to be very discreet, otherwise we'd hear about this kind of thing more often. Here the woman zumba teacher/masseuse/escort was so indiscreet she started to become a public nuisance, and it appears she was setting up a racketeering operation with assistance from a private investigator. The local reporter in the story describes how she would be accosted in the supermarket by people who demanded to know "when are you going to do your story about what that woman is doing?"

 

Also I get the impression that the local law enforcement was not particularly interested in prosecuting (and indeed there were accusations of a cover up) but given the detailed records they found when they finally did the arrest, they could not turn a blind eye with what had been dropped in their laps. Making it worse and adding to the drama was that the PD, being a small department in a small town, did not have the capability to process all the prosecutions at once so released the names of suspects intermittently, with everyone in town waiting to see who else is (or isn't) on the "list" and in the next release of names.

 

It's a bizarre story, and definitely builds the case for not maintaining detailed records on these kinds of things!