Names of men accused of paying for sex at high-end brothels in Mass. released in Cambridge court

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Court hearings for the 28 “wealthy and well-connected” men accused of being customers of an interstate commercial sex ring that ran high-end brothels in two Massachusetts communities began on Friday in a Cambridge courtroom.

The names of a dozen accused sex buyers, from communities including Winchester, Lincoln, Concord, Newton and Waltham, were made public on Friday. They included: Jonathan Lanfear, 56, of Winchester; Patrick Walsh , 66, of Swampscott; Pinhao Chao of Newton; David LaCava, 47, of Waltham; Jason Han, 29, of Concord; John Doran, 75, of Wellesley; Pablo Domingo Maceira, 39, of Roslindale; Peter MacGillivray, 60, of Boston; Yihong Zou, 30, of Boston; Boya Zhou, 27, of West Roxbury; Kerry Wu, 54, of Natick; and Mark Zhu, 29, of Lincoln.

Cambridge District Court Clerk Sharon Casey said she would file charges against all of them.

“There is sufficient evidence to establish probable cause,” Casey said to several attorneys and two defendants who appeared with their attorneys in court in front of media cameras.

Casey denied repeated requests made by defense attorneys to dismiss the complaints against their clients. The men will be summonsed to court to face charges at a later date. Should they not appear in court at that time, they will face arrest, Casey said in court.

As of noon Friday, two of the accused sex buyers had appeared in court with their attorneys. Other accused sex buyers and their attorneys altogether failed to show up in court. A few attorneys entered the courtroom alone on their client’s behalf.

Probable cause hearings for the next group of accused sex buyers are scheduled for next Friday in Cambridge District Court.

Jason Han, 29, of Concord, who works for Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a radiologist, appeared alongside his attorney, who told the court that he has no criminal history.

“The Commonwealth of Massachusetts deserves to keep this young healthcare hero employed,” Han’s attorney said, referencing Han’s work as a frontline healthcare worker during the Covid pandemic.

“Certainly, an eye-opening experience,” Han’s attorney said of his client being accused as a sex buyer.

“He is committed to never engaging in this type of behavior ever again,” Han’s attorney said, before asking Casey to not issue a criminal complaint against Han, and suggesting at one point that Han perform 100 hours of community service. “He’s extremely remorseful and embarrassed.”

Casey denied the attorney’s request. “I find that there’s sufficient evidence to establish probable cause,” Casey said. “A summons is going to be sent out.”

Casey then spoke directly to Han. “I appreciate that you’re here. I appreciate everything that your attorney has said about you, and you should continue doing all those good things,” Casey said to Han. “This is a blip in the radar and I know that you’re going to get through it, OK? It sounds like you have a great family, you have a lot of support, OK? You’re going to do the right thing.”

Attorney Kevin Mahoney, who appeared in court solo on behalf of David LaCava, spoke about the personal fallout amid the allegations facing his client.

“His marriage is falling apart, he’s in the process of getting divorced,” Mahoney told the court.

The attorney for MacGillivray, who is accused of making numerous visits to the brothels, argued in court that there were several mistakes in the police report.

At one point, MacGillivray’s attorney directly questioned Cambridge Police Lt. Jarred Cabral, who read through the police reports for each of the accused sex buyers before the clerk magistrate during the hours-long hearings on Friday.

“He is not a public figure, not an elected official. He’s not that person,” MacGillivray’s attorney told the court. He asked Casey not to issue a complaint against his client “In light of all this and in light of all the mistakes” including conflicting evidence that he argued were in the police report.

Casey denied the request of MacGillivray’s defense attorney. “There’s probable cause to issue criminal complaint,” she said.

Mark Zhu, 28, of Lincoln also appeared in court with his attorney. Prosecutors allege he paid $840 for a two-hour session at a Cambridge brothel.

His lawyer tried unsuccessfully to get the complaint dropped.

“My client has zero point, zero criminal record of any sort,” defense attorney Steven Goldwyn told the clerk magistrate.

Outside court, Zhu heard from protestors, many of them survivors of the sex trade.

“I know for myself and for many women that have been charged with sex for a fee or something like that, our names have been plastered all over, just because you have money and a nice lawyer doesn’t mean this should be just swept under the rug,” said Audra Doody from Safe Exit Initiative.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in November that the hearings would be public. The hearings are taking place in Cambridge District Court.

The attorneys for the Boston-area “John Does” identified in the black books of the sophisticated interstate high-end brothel network have desperately tried to keep their identities private, arguing that revealing their names violates their privacy.

In 2023, then-acting Boston U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said the clientele of the brothels included politicians, big pharma executives, government contractors with security clearances, professors, lawyers, accountants, and scientists.

Probable cause hearings in the high-profile brothel case are also scheduled on March 21 and March 28, Casey said in an earlier statement. No continuances will be granted, absent extraordinary circumstances.

A pair of Boston-based media outlets had filed to view criminal complaints against the alleged clients of a prostitution ring, however, the SJC also sided with the clerk’s decision to keep the complaints sealed until the first show-cause hearings are held in Cambridge District Court.

In November 2023, authorities arrested Han Lee, Junmyung Lee, and James Lee on charges of running a commercial sex network in Watertown, Cambridge, and Virginia, where buyers paid up to $600 per hour for a wide array of advertised sex acts.

All three have since pleaded guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors said the three charged sex buyers a premium price for appointments with women advertised on their websites. Buyers paid anywhere from $350 to upwards of $600 per hour for sex, depending on the services. They paid in cash.

To conceal the proceeds of the prostitution network, Han Lee deposited hundreds of thousands of dollars of cash proceeds into personal and third-party bank accounts and peer-to-peer transfers, prosecutors said. Hundreds of thousands of dollars from these proceeds were used to buy money orders to conceal the source of the funds.

These money orders were then used to pay for rent and utilities at brothel locations in Massachusetts and Virginia, prosecutors said.

Websites advertising nude models for professional photography at upscale studios served as a front for the prostitution ring, prosecutors said.

Investigators searched and seized the domain names for the websites after obtaining search warrants that were executed in November 2023.

Each website had a verification process for interested sex buyers to become eligible for appointment bookings, prosecutors said.

Clients were required to complete a form providing their full names, email addresses, phone numbers, employers, and references if they had one.

The clerk magistrate’s initial decision was issued on Dec. 21, 2023, but it was met with a slew of appeals.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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