A Greater Boston Area-based billionaire joins a list of wicked wealthy figures who allegedly frequented the same Florida massage parlor where New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is said to have solicited prostitutes.
J.W. Childs Associates founder John Childs, 77, is wanted for solicitation of prostitution charges in connection to an international human trafficking ring, which police reportedly had under surveillance for several months. Authorities in Vero Beach, FL, set his bond at $1,000.
He has not been arrested as of Monday morning, according the New York Post.
Childs is a resident of Indian Shores River, Florida, and is a prominent donor to many Republican politicians and political action committees, including former U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign according to TCPalm.com.
According to the Waltham equity firm’s website, J.W. Childs Associates has invested about $3.7 billion in about 50 businesses since 1995, including Meow Mix, SunnyD and MattressFirm.
Robert Kraft, 77, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution on Friday by police in Jupiter, Florida. Reports indicate that Kraft visited Orchids of Asia Day Spa twice between Jan. 18 and Jan. 22 and was reportedly caught on video performing sex acts from female workers used by Chinese human traffickers.
Kraft and Childs are two of about 170 suspects who were charged throughout a wide sweep of multiple massage parlors allegedly connected to prostitution and human trafficking following a six-month police investigation.
“I’ll tell you folks, there were very little massages actually going on,” Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey said in a press conference broadcast on the Florida police department’s Facebook page.
“They weren’t going in there for massages.”
The multijurisdictional international sex trafficking investigation netted several other Bay State residents, according to the Waltham Patch, including Kevin Coyne, 40, of Boston, Timothy McCoy, 55 of Boston, Robert Ohlson, 67, of Athol and Carl Santheson, 52, of Plymouth.
“The accusation of solicitation of prostitution is totally false,” Childs told Bloomberg News.
“I have retained a lawyer. I have received no contact by the police department about this charge.”
