A federal judge in Florida has ordered that videos which allegedly show Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, paying for sex must be destroyed. The videos are from a sting set up by Jupiter, Fla., police at a local massage parlor.
Misdemeanor solicitation charges against Kraft and other men were dropped last year after the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that the videos were not admissible as evidence.
As South Florida's Sun Sentinel reported in September, "A three-judge panel found the warrants violated a federal law that requires police to minimize the intrusion of the cameras and focus only on crimes. The videotaping at the business lasted for five days, and wound up recording two women and two men receiving legitimate massages, not just the men paying for sexual services."
Kraft's attorneys had been pushing for the videos to be destroyed, as the 79-year-old billionaire was worried that the videos would be circulated on the Internet.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II ruled that the videos must be destroyed because the police surveillance was unlawful, the Sun Sentinel reported. The videos had already been ordered sealed.
The plaintiffs in the civil suit were identified only as John Does, and Kraft's name does not appear in the judge's order.
The case, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is John Doe v. Town of Jupiter Police Dept. et al., 9:19-cv-80513.
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