Robert Kraft's Palm Beach mansion lies minutes from shuttered spas

BOSTON — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been charged with soliciting prostitution not far from his winter home in Palm Beach, Florida.

The announcement came Friday afternoon in a press conference in Jupiter, where police announced they had video evidence of Robert Kraft receiving sex acts for money at a massage spa shuttered as part of a human trafficking bust.

Kraft's keeps a winter home in Palm Beach along North Ocean Boulevard, where he purchased land in 2009 for around $29.5 million. There he built a massive mansion to serve as him winter home when Brookline gets too cold.

The home is only about 15 minutes north of President Donald Trump's club Mar-a-Lago, where Kraft is a member.

Kraft has been known to be a friend of President Trump's after he said the President and his wife consoled him after the death of Kraft's own wife in 2011.

Six massage parlors and spas were shut down earlier this week when police in Florida announced the results of a months-long investigation into human trafficking taking place at the businesses.

Several women, some of whom were underage, were allegedly lured to the United States under the guise of becoming licensed massage therapists -- in fact, police say several of them were licensed -- but instead, wound up the victims of human trafficking and prostitution rings.

Palm Beach is also home to a number of other owners of professional sports teams, including Jeffrey Lurie (Philadelphia Eagles), members of the Rooney family (Pittsburgh Steelers), Mark Wilf (Minnesota Vikings) and Charles Johnson (San Francisco Giants).

Cox Media Group