In Martin County, where four spas were scrutinized, charges against 33 are being dropped, Assistant State Attorney Nirlaine Smartt said. He said officials are in the process of requesting that warrants be dismissed for fewer than 15 people who have yet to be arrested. “That decision on whether to appeal further is a strategic and tactical one that is made and we’re going to have to live with the effects of that here on the ground level of the prosecution,” Wilson said. More: A year after day spa sex-for-pay crackdown, Robert Kraft and others still face charges Two spas were targeted in Indian River County. Wilson said about 55 men already entered and completed a diversion program, and had their charges disposed. “That dismissal is based upon the attorney general's office … (deciding) not to further appeal the 4th District Court of Appeal ruling that that evidence is no longer available to us to use in criminal prosecution,” Wilson said. In Indian River County, 60 to 65 men will have misdemeanor charges dropped, according to Assistant State Attorney Steven Wilson on Wednesday. The spa investigations in Martin and Indian River counties and in Jupiter in Palm Beach County received national attention after Jupiter police alleged New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft got sex services twice in as many days at Orchids of Asia Day Spa in January 2019.
More: Florida decision likely clears Robert Kraft of solicitation
Prosecutors decided that if they challenged last month's Florida 4th District Court of Appeal decision to the state Supreme Court and lost, it could have "broader, negative implications" on future law enforcement investigations, The Florida Attorney General's Office said. Prosecutors this week said they would not appeal a court ruling throwing out video recordings allegedly showing customers paying for massage spa sex acts. Watch Video: Patriots owner Robert Kraft named in Florida prostitution bustĬharges against dozens of men accused in investigations of sex acts for pay at area spas are being dropped after a decision by officials not to appeal a court ruling throwing out video recordings of the acts.