KENNEBUNK, Maine — Kennebunk police on Friday released a third list of 15 men charged with paying for sex in the ongoing investigation into an alleged prostitution business in the town.

The police have already released the names of 39 men charged as johns in the case over two previous installments, on Oct. 16 and Oct. 26. In total, 54 men have been charged with engaging a prostitute in the case.

Included on the most recent list is James Andrew Ferreira, who was listed as recently as Oct. 23 as the adult ministries director under the Maine District Church of the Nazarene’s Sunday School Board. His name has since been removed from the website.

According to his personal website, which has also recently been shut down, Ferreira five years ago founded Life Formation Strategies, “a Christian life coaching practice in southern Maine.” He also described himself as a “writer, pastor, magician and speaker from southern Maine” and notes that he is “a family life pastor in the Church of the Nazarene.”

Ferreira did not immediately return a telephone message Friday evening. An email sent to his church account was returned as undeliverable.

Friday’s list included the names of 15 men charged. They are:

Peter B. Chavonelle Jr., 47, of Windham; Derek M. Chapman, 32, of Portland; Jeffrey A. Rogers, 38, of Scarborough; Craig S. Patterson, 53, of South Portland; Stanley H. Cornwall Jr., 50, of Buxton; Robert W. Hazleton Jr., 68, of Estero, Fla.; Jason A. Douin, 38, of Augusta; Wendall Wayne Fessenden, 62, of Kennebunkport; Brian R. Bedard, 38, of Biddeford; Michael A. McInnis, 53, of Saco; James Andrew Ferreira, 49, of South Portland; Jeffrey R. Beaupre, 46, of Lyman; Thomas F. Powers, 56, of Edgecomb; William Lee Kerr, 53, of Augusta; and Jeffrey L. Comeau, 35, of Berwick.

Among those previously charged were former South Portland Mayor James Soule, former Kennebunk High School hockey coach Donald Hill, local lawyer Jens Bergens, and former Portland Planning Board Chairman Joe Lewis.

Investigators say a list of as many as 150 clients was kept by Alexis Wright, 29, of Wells, who is accused by police of running a prostitution business along with Thomaston businessman Mark Strong, 57, out of her Kennebunk fitness studio.

Both Wright and Strong have pleaded not guilty to a slate of charges stemming from the alleged operation.

Kennebunk Police Lt. Anthony Bean Burpee has said investigators are combing through Wright’s documents and, as they compile evidence to do so, incrementally charging clients with engaging a prostitute.

The names expected to be released Friday by police represent the men charged during the past two weeks. The department has indicated it would release biweekly lists of individuals arrested or issued summonses, regardless of the charges, and police plan to maintain that schedule through the prostitution case investigation.

The first list of men charged with engaging a prostitute was delayed and issued on the Monday following the scheduled Friday, Oct. 12, release day because of a motion filed in court by attorney Stephen Schwartz. Schwartz was representing two people on the alleged johns list and was trying to keep the names from public dissemination.

Schwartz argued that, because of the alleged videotaping activity, the accused johns were also victims of the crime of invasion of privacy, and as victims, they should not be named publicly.

Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren initially ruled that the names of the charged johns should be released, but without home addresses, in an effort to provide the men with a layer of confidentiality. That ruling caused police to release just the first and last names of the men charged as clients — initially without middle initials, ages or addresses — creating some public confusion around men who were not charged, but have the same first and last names as the men who were.

Warren reversed his decision the following day, on Oct. 16, and allowed all identifiable information to be released, and Kennebunk police updated their published list to include middle initials, ages and addresses.

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.

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176 Comments

  1. Gay Sex:  OK .   Hetero Sex:  Not OK?     

    I thought Maine just said “What goes on in CONSENTING ADULTS bedrooms is nobody’s business.”  What a bunch of hypocrites!

        1. Everyone should move back to barter and REAL money

          tell the federal reserve to take their worthless pieces of paper and stuff ’em

          check out the trade section on Craig’s list….the best way to get around taxation is to simply ignore the taxman and his worthless currency

          1. Love Craigslist…especially when folks put up an ad for something like a sweet 1978 fiberglass dinghy with a hole in it that they will trade for a 4-wheeler.  No lowballers.  

            :-D

          2. Dude, hello, this isn’t a debate about taxes or a blurb for Craigslist.  Hoorah if you think you’ve found a way to step around taxes, now keep that on the down-low or get audited by the IRS.  LOL

          3. Barter in “real” money, like when you got paid with eggs or hens or vegetables? 
            Or do you mean gold and silver, which are only “real” money if we all agree that it is? 
            And if we can all agree that gold and silver are valuable (I can’t eat them, but I can eat eggs), we can also agree that printed money is valuable if that’s what we wish to do.  As long as we all agree that it is real money, it is real money.

          4. Wow! Now I don’t know if I want real money or real eggs or real veggies or real gold. I’m just totally confused.

          5. I’m sorry, but that just isn’t how it works. To garner value something has to have scarcity. Paper money can and is printed at will. It is an artificial scarcity that just does not exist in reality. There is a limit to the amount of gold. Because of this it is a commodity with value. 

          6.  The scarcity behind the paper money is the productivity of the economy.

            Paper money either reflects the value of the commodity that backs it, or the economy that backs it.  Going back to the gold standard has disadvantages – do you know what they are?

          7. I laugh when I hear you talk about REAL money.

            If I offered you fifty $100 bills, which in your learned opinion, aren’t REAL money, you’re going to turn them down?

            I thought so.

          8. golds a pain in the tail to carry in my wallet, I’d take the bills. A certified check or direct electronic deposit to my checking acct for $50k, thank you. 

          9. That is why we had  gold certificates and silver certificates. Gold in the year 2000 was ~$300 an oz. Today it is ~$1800. You would be extremely foolish to take the cash.

          10. If I need to spend it, I’ll take the bills.  And if I wanted to invest – I’d still take the bills and invest in something other than gold.

            Now, I have answered your question – it is JackLakeson’s turn to answer mine.  I didn’t ask about gold. Nor did I ask you.

          11.  There’s a million reasons why no government has regressed back to the times of the gold standard. I’m sure you can find some remote hamlet with a whole crew of hunter gathers where they still buy and sell using gold or their certificates. Me, I’ll stay in the modern world.

          12. Except on your tax form it asks you if you have made any trades in the past year.  Not claiming the value of the trade could likely be income tax evasion.  I don’t they much care if you give your neighbor a dozen eggs and he gives you tomatoes from his garden, but if  there is much value (as determined by the dollar) they still expect their taxes.

            Yes, the federal reserve is printing money which waters down the value of the dollars we have in the bank, but most regular folks to not see the short or long term issues with the administration taking such steps thus the outcome of this weeks election. 

          13. Worthless pieces of paper?  Well, that makes me feel pretty smug.  I swapped a couple of worthless pieces of paper marked $20 for a tankful of gasoline this morning.  Boy, am I getting over!  Of course, I recently did a little job for someone and got a worthless piece of paper marked $50 in return.  Now I feel like a schmuck!

      1. Right.  ptkitty seems to have misunderstood what we just voted on.
        As long as the law says that paying for sex is illegal, then the men — the johns — should be treated just like the women.  If the woman gets her name in the paper, the men should too.
        I’m not making a judgment here on the morality of this — that’s a different debate.  But it is illegal, and as long as it’s against the law let’s treat both the men and women the same.

      2. Wonder if the BDN would make such a big deal about the Zumba deal if it were a bunch of pillow biters handing over cash for a roll in the hay?

      3. “Paying for sex: Not Ok, in the eyes of the law.”

        Not true. All you need is a camera and the consent of the participants to be filmed or photographed. Why anyone would go employ a prostitute without bringing a camera along is beyond me.

        1. Not exactly. The porn industry gets around prostitution laws on First Amendment grounds. People are paid for acting, not for having sex. And to get around obscenity laws, there has to be a story to be told, tying back to the First Amendment.

    1.  Yeah, except when there is someone on that list who needs to be quieted down. I wonder if we will ever know who the real target of this was.

    2. Hmmm… bedroom?… I thought she was teaching new Zumba movements, and maybe with plans to produce a DVD that might be For Sale…

    3. If you don’t know the difference between marriage and paying a prostitute for sex, you shouldn’t get married.

    4. Supporting prostitution now ptkitty?? Hope you get that petition started. You could take it to church with ya!

    5. Kitty, you need to get over the election, you LOST!!!!…throwing this out because you are still upset about that loss doesnt really mean anything.  Sex between consenting adults, heterosexual or gay is perfectly fine if it doesnt break the law.  Prostitution is against the law whether we agree with it or not.  Dont make this some talking point just because you are still bummed your not getting your way.

    6. Are you serious with that post? And the 60+ people who “like”d it? That’s so typical of the anti-gay, say-anything-to-get-a-rise mindset.

      You lost. Get over it. You’re embarrassing yourself with posts like this.

      By the way, are we to understand that you support prostitution? It’s available in all flavors, you know.

    7. If someone wants to give a donation for whatever reason it should not be posted all over the paper. The way the state is handling this you would think it a big drug deal going down.

    8. What are you talking about? We didn’t vote on what they do in their bedrooms. They are going to do that regardless of whether or not they are married. We voted on their rights and freedoms, because they were being oppressed, much like black people and women and minorities of our past. Luckily, I will not be one of the people compared to slave owners and racists, like you will be. Get over yourself and if you’re going to post something, at least be accurate.

    9. You’d change your tune fast enough if you hired a hooker and two months later she sent you a video clip of your activities and a demand for $25,000 to keep the videos off the Internet. This wasn’t just a one-woman cat-house. She and her business partner were running a Blackmail, Incorporated outfit.  

    10. Well this wasn’t done in their bedrooms, it was done in a downtown business and paid for. Paid for sex is prostitution. Sex in your bed is your business, you don’t pay the ones you love for sex do you??? Just curious!

    11. what goes on in consenting adults bedroom IS nobody’s business…unless the law is being broken. How I spend my money is nobody’s business…unless I’m buying something illegal

      What you say is just dumb.

  2. This is becoming a joke of the Nation, not just the state. I think the DA is out to make a name for himselves as others.

      1. right, if they were logical they really should have saved them all up in their database and released them all at once

    1. I don’t remember the DA’s name. Do you? (No cheating.)

      The slow release of names is designed to keep the case in the news media while serving as a message to others that prostitution in Maine will not be tolerated.

      1. It’s possible that they didn’t start with full names, and were checking to see if they had the correct identities.  Just possible, anyway.

      1. You’re right Rob.  I’ve been married for 42 years and just about every night the wife and I talk about what life would be like if we were to get divorced.  And, I don’t even belong to one of those Zumba clubs.

  3.  Hey James Andrew Ferreira, that’s not the kind of trick a magician is supposed to be participating in…

    1. No, it is not. It is amusing to find out a so called man of god is on the list. They preach how things like this is such a horrible thing but yet, here is his name. So yes, I care.

      1. if you can advocate spending this kind of money just so that you can (smuggly?) know that a man of god sinned; well, that says a lot more about you than the preacher. this entire story is a big yawn…with the exception of the outrageous waste of money. taxpayer money. 

        1. Think of all the men who might have been blackmailed by the prostitute and her business partner with the videos and the information they gathered about their clientele. This wasn’t just money for sex. The purveyors of sex were building a huge data-base that would have given them tremendous leverage over their clients, had their operation not been exposed.

          1. the operative word in your post is “MIGHT”…we will never know if that was the intent or if she just liked to journal. some people are compulsive list makers…

  4. I can honestly say I did not look at the list above. I’m only here to read the comments………rrright…

  5. Is it just me seeing that these are all older men? Late 30’s 40’s 50’s and 60’s if my memory serves me right so maybe they should all take advice from the 20 somethings that free sex is found in the bars and does not need to be paid for. I am sure the girls aren’t videotaping their encounters either. If the divorce courts become overwhelmed it is because of the husbands bad behavior not Ms. Wright’s fault at all. Yes she allegedly video taped them without consent but if they had not paid for the deed in the first place there would be no taped encounters… The misdemeanor charge of prostitution is the lesser charge because the taping and tax evasion is the felony portion of Ms. Wright’s behavior that is going to hurt her the most. But remember al …  do the crime be ready to do the time. If the men now have to pay the high price of failed marriage and the embarrassment to their public and family it was their own behavior that put them in that position. The reason the lists are coming out in pieces is the time it takes to do interviews and interrogations. More to come and looks like the lawyers that are not involved may be making money in all the divorce settlements to come and the wives are going to make out well because of all the infidelity. I feel bad for all the kids and adult children of the so called johns for they are the ones really most hurt by all of this publicity. 

    1. I’m betting those ” older guys” in their 30’s, 40’s 50’s and 60’s have known about the bar fly’s for awhile . So yeah, it is just you.

    2. What bar was it you went to again? ;)

      Seriously though, it’s not that simple. Most women can get “free” sex pretty much at will even if they aren’t particularly good looking. Men, not really. Especially if discretion is an absolute must. Married dudes don’t just walk into bars and score no strings attached sex at will. Doesn’t work that way.

      1. Married dudes aren’t suppose to be out looking for sex in the first place … Marriage is suppose to be a sacred vow …. 

        1. I agree. Though you say…

          Is it just me seeing that these are all older men? Late 30’s 40’s 50’s
          and 60’s if my memory serves me right so maybe they should all take
          advice from the 20 somethings that free sex is found in the bars and
          does not need to be paid for.

          I am merely busting your naive bubble. ;)

  6. If the desperate need to pay for sex, then hell ya feel free to do it. What some fail to understand in this case is that he chose to pay for his romps with money donated to the church for the sake of the church, not to satisfy the Pastor’s sexual needs

      1. so does every woman.  laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning… not exactly the life of sitting around waiting for the next orgasmic encounter.  

        1. no, what you are saying is the same as saying: why take a shower if I’m just going to get dirty again? the favor isn’t the crime, the money is. And a relationship where people share expenses and are in love is not paying for sex. sex has nothing to do with that. get a clue you ignorant fools.

          1. I’ve been married 22 years, clearly I have a clue.  You might need to look up the definition of humor though.  Plus, in my situation I do not do a hole lot of cleaning as  I currently work outside the home and my husband is a stay at home dad. 

          2. I was responding to and gsg-whatever, and I see your humor lol sometimes it is not easy to read sarcasm and humor in text! My point was about how I’ve seen people saying that men pay for sex by buying a lady dinner and taking her out or then having her give him money towards bills, buying her jewelry etc. and how I would never consider that equivalent to paying a prostitute, so it was in meant towards those people in general, not to you specifically. peace.

  7. It is normally a popular thing to see law enforcement officers, court officials, clergymen and politicians’ names on madaams’ lists as they are the ones with or access to money. and I think it’s perfectly legitimate to release their names, because the community should know precisely who they really are. ZUMBA!!

  8. Legalize prostitution for BOTH MEN AND WOMEN! regulate it …. licenses,  taxes, etc. It IS the worlds oldest profession … it is not going away. Save tax dollars and generate new tax dollars.

      1. Evidently you have read more into my comment than was written. Personally I don’t give a rat’s butt about the act/services of the prostitute being taxed … although if prostitution was viewed as a form of “entertainment” then perhaps if could be justified. If prostitution were legalized and regulated all prostitutes would have to account for the money they have earned …. therefore they would be taxed on their earnings …. just like the rest of us. 

  9. Wonder how many people the reverend admonished for being sinners? What’s his record on same-sex marriage??? His “Christians forgive” church wasted no time in scrubbing him from their website. Hypocrites.

    1. Would you rather him be kept in a position of leadership in a church when he was found to have committed illegal activity?  As in most of the cases of people who would be considered “role models” in their positions, he was removed because his conduct went against the church’s teaching and was also ILLEGAL!  Yes, there can be forgiveness, but it doesn’t mean someone gets to continue being in a position of leadership.  No one is perfect, but Pastors ARE and SHOULD BE held to a higher standard.  Think of all the Catholic priests – are you glad they were allowed to continue on in their positions after being found out to be molesters?  Or would you have rather them be taken out of their position and never allowed to be a priest again?  For me, as a Christian, I’d choose the latter. 

        1. his penance needs to be served before he is allowed into a position of preaching again,  He can always open a new church  

  10. Can’t believe people get worked up over this young lady and her friends!! Bill Clinton done this in the oval office and many other places in the Whitehouse with many women.He didn’t lose his job or get divorced! And im sure he paid his girls too.He’s looked at as a GOD in the dem party.Jesse Jackson Jr uses campaign money to pay his girls then runs off to a rehabilitation center cause hes being investigated and still gets reelected!! This country is wacked!!!!!!

  11. Hey Bangor Daily News, I bet your taking extreme pleasure in this revelation of “Johns”, aren’t you?  I particularly like how you’ve focused on the minister in this story.  This isn’t news, it’s gossip.   It’s dirty laundry, and like the Eagles say, “kick em’ while they’re up, kick em’ while they’re down”.  The American media machine is one of the most evil entities on the face of the planet.  Why don’t we hold some kind of public spectacle in an auditorium, gather all of these men up, and throw rotten produce at them?  

    1. One does not get charged for a CRIME due to ‘gossip’….and if these fine upstanding citizens had not broken the LAW then their dirty laundry would not be getting aired out now would it?’  You can blame the media or the woman they had sex with or the alignment of the planets….these jackholes made the decisions they did to do what they did (allegedly) ….welcome to personal responsibility and natural consequences when you break the law.  If you don’t want to be charged with a crime and don’t want your name in the paper….then don’t pay to play.

    2. When people break the law, it is news. I’m glad they focused on the so-called “minister”. Hypocrits should be exposed for what they are. I just hope he hasn’t also ruined the lives of the children in his “flock.” Maybe this news of his hypocritic actions will wake up the people that have been listening to him, and following his advice. (What a scary thought…that he was advising people!)

    3. This is more fun, and the BDN is doing us a public service. If you’re sisters husbands was on the list and brought her home a nice std wouldn’t she like to know this?

  12. The deal is that if you pay for sex; it’s illegal. If you pay for sex and you film it; it’s legal. Go figure!

  13. Just in time for Thanksgiving. They should compile and release all these names at once and get this over with.  This lengthy release of names is a farce  and its timing blows for those people who are innocent,  but are drawn into this matter by way of relationship and association.  Not a good feeling for the holidays if your a child.

  14. puritanical government officials, titillating sex news, ruined lives. 

    moral certainty is always the sign of a backward culture.

    lets say a family man of good character was caught up  in this mess because his wife was physically unable to have sex of any kind and he quietly  went about his business finding it quietly with no harm to anyone and finds his name in the paper and his life ruined.  please comment yes or no if you would be surprised if that family man sought revenge.

    1. interesting. and good point, yet he could have just gone down to the strip club and made “friends” or gone to the bars and made “friends” with girls, rather than visit Alexis The Prostitute. I don’t believe in “friends with benefits” like everyone else my age seems to, but anyway… He could seek revenge all he wants, (probably on her for stealing his info etc.) but the law doesn’t care. He is not above the law, he broke it and got caught, right

        1. have some style and make some friends and get to know someone = a relationship (on some level…) and then maybe if you’re attracted to each other, you might get lucky. hey either way, at least you’d have a person to talk to that is your friend. it doesn’t happen like *snap* so f___ relax. der it takes some time. at least your not going to be paying to sleep with millions of STDs on top of each other. otherwise wack off for the rest of your life dreaming about it.

          1. Women do not tend to like nice guys as much as they do jerks it the think the jerk is more attractive . Just saying to would be easier just to pay them sometimes. Not play all the head games . Women never seem to say what they mean or tell you what they want . The Guy right out of prison seems to have more luck with the women in bars than a halfway decent guy. Not all women are like that i know but the kind that you meet in a bar looking for casual sex usually are .  I can not begin to tell you how many times a dated a woman in my younger days who left me for a man who would beat the day lights out of them . I am lucky I found a decent woman now , but she still drives me nuts by never saying what she means or what she wants . 

  15. Based on the facts in the other articles printed in the paper about her, she should also be charged with animal cruelty and child abuse.

    1. Blue mountain clap can only be cured with the removal of the apendage. (-.  then seared close with a hot iron, while awake.. bad stuff!

  16. Not that ” I” am condoning the behavior, but why would anyone in an illegal involvement keep a list of clients!? 
    and……I would like to add that some of these comments are disrespectful, lewd and sick.
    There are families being destroyed because of this. Grow up !

    1. the only disrespectful lewd and sick person I’ve seen here is Alexis. comments are opinions.  comments are comments, and there has been much worse. either way I’m with you, I’m on your side. This whole thing is such a shame.  I don’t care who wants to argue with me about it: she put herself out there (as a prostitute) for them, and had she not, these gentlemen wouldn’t be involved in this s.
      They didn’t ruin their lives, she did -intentionally – that is why she kept those records and said “you WILL [have sex with me] or everyone will know.” To Hell with Alexis. Amen.

    2. It could be to extort the customer at a later date.. Anyone in a position of power could be compromised at some point, this is why the Johns names need to be exposed.. If a wife is wondering why her husband can’t pay the bill’s, well the answer could have been because he was told if he didn’t send money she would expose his sexcapades to his family.. It is  dangerous for the customers, the public and families to keep this hidden.

  17. Why bother with this at all, the people involved are of legal  age and consenting adults.  This should not even be a crime.  We now are allowing same sex marriages so I cannot believe this is any different.  In fact a little more normal.  This is the world’s oldest profession.  The johns will have to answer to their wives and families but so what they made the decision to do these acts they weren’t forced.  We should all just look the other way at all these sex crimes and make them all legal like gay marriage.  The only ones we should worry about are the ones involving children and anyone who does that should be put away permanently.

  18. The Media should use it’s powers for good instead of evil. No good will come of releasing the name of anyone in this matter.

  19. Legalize prostitution. Does anyone remember Spitzer in New York? Does Kennebunk have a reason for this legal drama?

  20. Legal:  getting paid to have sex on film for the adult film industry.  Illegal:  getting paid to have consensual sex with another adult.

  21. Maybe the Pastor was trying to start a new congregation. Just a thought.Does it really affect our life style and the way we live over these consenting adults having sex behind close doors. Thats right they paid for it who crazys.

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