How much do you guys think it's "trumped up" charges vs powerless, scared women participating in an illegal activity are hesitant to cooperate and help make a case for the prosecution?
In these areas where it's a powerful guy accused and a woman is the alleged victim, do you believe if the prosecutor isn't able to make a case then it must mean that nothing happened?
Are you asking an "in general" question or are you referring to the actual case involving Kraft? To the best of my knowledge, I have not seen anything to indicate that there was anything remotely resembling human trafficking going on at this particular massage parlor. If what has been reported is accurate and there isn't more information that has not been released, the women involved were well over age and doing whatever they were doing of their own free will.
In the Kraft case, I don't see the situation as involving "powerless, scared women." There are so many questionable things going on in this case that I am surprised it ever even got this far in the courts. Pick any of the following . . .
- Law enforcement was concerned that there was human trafficking going on . . . yet they observed for months and months (if they were that concerned, IMO, it is their duty to intervene and protect the women as soon as they suspected it and had any evidence to support it).
- They fabricated a bomb threat to install cameras, which invaded customers' inherent right to privacy (which is what the judge ruled).
- They recorded patrons without full disclosure (which goes against Florida State laws).
- They did not have probable cause to pull Kraft over for a traffic stop (and the officer allegedly said he would come up with a reason).
- They forced Kraft to produce identification on a traffic stop (when he wasn't driving).
- They conveniently waited until they caught a big fish in Kraft before coming forward with the case.
- Their first description of the case linked to Kraft to human sex trafficking . . . when no such charges were filed against anyone at that location (and the press ran with it).
That's the legal side of the case. Personally, whether Kraft or anyone else went in there and got services not on the regular menu of services is his or her own business. At this point, everyone has a pretty good idea what went on. Each of us can respond and react according to our individual beliefs in how much or how little we are outraged and how serious Kraft's involvement was.
As far as making a case with the women involved, if the charges are nothing more than misdemeanor solicitation charges, not sure how much the D.A.'s office can pressure the women into. Sure, the likelihood is that Kraft and the other men did something illegal as a minor infraction. Repeat offenders would get fined and community service and multi, multi time offenders could technically get a few months in jail. It's not like any of the people actually charged were up on hard core felonies or murder charges.
At this point, even if the D.A. were able to convince the women to testify against the johns, in Kraft's case, there is so much else out there that indicates law enforcement skirted the rules of procedure that assistance from the women may no longer be enough. From what I have read, it's starting to look like Kraft would have grounds to sue the state and local law enforcement. Again, how it got this far perplexes me, and I don't think having the best lawyers money could buy had anything to do with the outcome. And this has nothing to do with me being a Patriots fan. I would be saying the same thing if this happened to the owners of the Jets, Steelers, Broncos, Colts, etc.
And to also clarify, in other cases involving human trafficking, underage women, girls being forced to do things against their will, etc., I agree that there would be an element of the women being scared and powerless (and that the parties involved should be prosecuted on serious charges). But the Kraft case? To me it looks like a big waste of taxpayers money.
The other thing I found interesting in this case is the backlash against Kraft in the sports media and some folks wanting Draconian measures taken against him and the Patriots. I have seen opinions suggesting Kraft should be kicked out of the league, forced to sell the team, and NE should have been stripped of the entirety of their draft picks for the draft that just ended. Apparently very few media people bothered to research the league rules, as stripping the team of draft picks does not apply to an off field, non-competitive infraction. Similarly, I believe the most they can fine Kraft is $500,000. So essentially, the only real power Goodell has is to suspend Kraft. Jim Irsay got suspended for 6 games for multiple felony charges. Kraft was charged with two misdemeanors (which may ultimately get dropped). I'm not sure what the outcome will be on the NFL front, but I can't see it being worse than what Irsay got.