WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft visited a Florida massage parlor for sex acts the night before and the morning of last month's AFC Championship Game, authorities said Monday in documents charging him with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution.
Kraft is one of hundreds of men charged in recent days as part of a crackdown on prostitution and human trafficking allegedly occurring in massage parlors between Palm Beach and Orlando.
A total of 10 spas have been closed and several people, most of them women originally from China, have been charged with running the operation.
The 77-year-old Kraft was chauffeured to the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in a 2014 white Bentley on the evening of Jan. 19, where police said they videotaped him engaging in a sex act and then handing over an undetermined amount of cash.
Investigators said Kraft returned 17 hours later, arriving in a chauffeured 2015 blue Bentley at the upper-middle class shopping center where the spa was located, the documents said.
Kraft, who is worth $6 billion, was videotaped engaging in sex acts before paying with a $100 bill and another bill, police said.
He then flew to Kansas City to watch his Patriots defeat the Chiefs in overtime hours later.
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Kraft, whose team won the Super Bowl earlier this month in Atlanta, denied wrongdoing Friday, shortly after Jupiter police announced he was being charged.
The NFL said Monday in a statement that its personal conduct policy "applies equally to everyone in the NFL" and it will handle "this allegation in the same way we would handle any issue under the policy."
Kraft's wife, Myra Hiatt Kraft, died in 2011. He has been dating 39-year-old actress Ricki Noel Lander since 2012.
Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg said Kraft will be issued a summons that is similar to a traffic ticket and assigned a day to appear in court.
Most people charged for the first time with soliciting are eligible for a diversion program where they pay a fine, perform 100 hours of community service and attend a class where they learn about the dangers of prostitution and how it is often tied to human trafficking. Fines can be up to $5,000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
