Hearing Date Set For Alleged Clients of Cambridge Brothel Network

Probable cause hearings for the 28 alleged customers of a high-end brothel network across Cambridge and Watertown have been scheduled for March — and will be open to the public.

Hearings are scheduled for March 14, March 21, and March 28, according to a statement from Sharon Shelfer Casey, the clerk-magistrate of the Cambridge District Court.

The scheduling — which will determine whether there is enough evidence to criminally charge the defendants with misdemeanor charges of soliciting sex — marks the next step in the legal drama over whether and how clientele will be charged.

While probable cause hearings are typically private, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled in February that the hearings will be open to the public. The move came after various news outlets — including The Boston Globe and WBUR — argued that opening the hearing is in the public interest.

A few months later, lawyers for a majority of the alleged customers appealed the ruling, arguing their clients’ lives and reputations would be harmed if their names were made public.

But the SJC reaffirmed their decision in November, ensuring that the hearings for the alleged customers — including professors and elected officials — will be open to the public.

According to Casey’s statement, public attendance will be limited on a first-come basis.

While the March hearings will be public, the Court upheld that law enforcement applications for criminal complaints will remain private until after the hearings, if probable cause is found.

“If probable cause is not found, Applications will not be available to the public,” Casey wrote in the statement. “If probable cause is found, Applications will be processed in the regular course of business and Complaints will issue and be available by the end of the business day in the Clerk’s office.”

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart or on Threads @laurel.shugart.