KENNEBUNK, Maine — The public’s appetite for information about the ongoing Kennebunk prostitution case will likely go unquenched this Thanksgiving week, as the semi-regular release of the names of men charged as johns will be delayed from Friday until Monday.
Add the news that a Biddeford District Court judge has decided to keep two key affidavits out of the public view, and followers of the sensational case — which has garnered coverage from around the globe, and already has included courtroom reprimands and allegations of police retaliation — are finding themselves at least temporarily in the dark.
Investigators have alleged that 29-year-old Alexis Wright, who is accused of running a prostitution business with 54-year-old Mark Strong out of her Kennebunk fitness studio, kept a meticulous list of approximately 150 clients. But Kennebunk police have been releasing the names of men charged with engaging a prostitute in biweekly installments of between 15 and 21 people.
Kennebunk Lt. Anthony Bean Burpee has said that investigators are sifting through massive amounts of evidence in the case and are incrementally charging the alleged clients along the way as they assemble enough incriminating documentation. The department releases a biweekly blotter, and all the men charged in the prostitution case are included in that public update, along with any other individuals arrested in the two-week period.
Thus far, the names of 58 men charged with engaging a prostitute have been released, including four who entered guilty pleas pre-emptive of the police department’s regular cycle of releases.
Both Wright and Strong have pleaded not guilty to a slate of charges stemming from the alleged operation.
The next biweekly police blotter normally would fall on Friday, but Lt. Burpee said that because of the shortened holiday work week, he will release the next list on Monday.
The trickle of information — plus comments made early in the process by Strong attorney Daniel Lilley that prominent men, including a local television personality, are on the alleged client list — has fueled wide speculation about who will be implicated in the high-profile case.
Thus far, the list of men charged includes former South Portland Mayor James Soule, former Kennebunk High School hockey coach Donald Hill, local lawyer Jens Bergens, former Portland Planning Board Chairman Joe Lewis, and former Church of the Nazarene Pastor James Andrew Ferreira.
But others who have not been charged, most notably longtime Portland TV weatherman Joe Cupo, have been forced to react to widely circulated rumors of their involvement, lamenting that the slow release of names of alleged johns allows hearsay to simmer unchecked.
In an interview aired on local NBC affiliate WCSH 6 earlier this month, Cupo, who has been with the station since 1979, said he wanted to “clear the air” and assert that he’s not on what’s become known in southern Maine as “The List” rather than let rumors fester until the final ledger of names is released — at this rate — sometime in early 2013.
“The fact that it’s going to take so long for all these names to come out … this rumor’s going to be going on and on and on,” said Cupo, who added that his wife had been regularly approached in her workplace by people “thinking that I’m guilty.”
Also, the Portland Press Herald reported Tuesday night that Biddeford District Court Judge Christine Foster has ruled against the newspaper’s motion to make public the two affidavits filed by police to secure search warrants in the ongoing investigation.
The affidavits are sworn statements filed with the court, in this case, by police about what they hoped to find when executing their proposed search warrants and how those discoveries would be important for their case.
Previous affidavits in the case have been unsealed by the court — including papers earlier this month revealing that police were seeking information about pornography allegedly featuring Wright, and that they found a “domination fetish sheet,” among other things, in their searches — but two such documents remain under lock and key after Foster’s most recent ruling.
Debate over the status of the affidavits is not the only legal wrangling still going on in the sprawling court drama. Prosecutors in the case are asking Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Nancy Mills to reconsider her ruling to allow separate trials for Wright and Strong, which attorneys for both individuals had requested.
The York County District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, has argued in a court filing that a combined trial for both Wright and Strong would not deprive either of speedy trials, as Strong’s attorney argued in his request for the split, and that nearly all charges against the two individuals are interrelated.
Mills has yet to rule on the prosecution’s motion. Under the current schedule, Strong would go on trial in January, while Wright would go on trial in May.
Release the Names of the lawsbreakers. Which list has the Elites on it?
This seems to be taking up a lot of police and court time for the level of crime committed……It has turned into a regular media circus.
Agreed. This is a large case for a small town police department. Unlike the TV crime shows, real life police can’t always wrap it up in an hour. I suspect the investigation of other crimes takes as much time, but with this case the world is watching.
As for the level of crime, Ms Wright is charged with a couple of felonies. Many on the far right have insisted that welfare fraud be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and it looks like the prosecution is taking care to ensure they have a case and can convict.
The only reason this is a media circus is because the media keeps reporting on the tiniest details and the public keeps reading it. Do you really think a new high school hockey coach would make state headlines under normal circumstances?
Why are prostitute patrons called Johns?
Because “Dicks” was already taken.
Hilarious!!! Lol
Nice!!
I thought it came from JON DOE-the name a guy might give instead of his real name when he’s caught.
Sounds a lot more macho than “Barrys” or “Hermans” ???
It’s like using a pay toilet … you leave behind more than your monetary contribution. —- using the John.
Must be getting down to the important and ‘connected’ names on the list.
Who cares
Apparently YOU cared enough to click your beak about it, pally. LOL
My friend who handles the insurance on my Model T has been mentioned in the same newspaper story as a prostitution business and it is not nice. To begin with, I feel bad for him and his family. Also, I can no longer wear the baseball cap he gave me without getting winks on the street and knowing digs of the elbow as I amble the aisles of Rockland’s big box stores.
That such a classic manifestation of Ayn Rand capitalism should warrant mention on the national news week after week surprises me. What might surprise you even more is that a former pastor of the Church of the Nazarene is listed among the dozens of johns who will probably appear in court.
What has happened to that good old time religion that Sinclair Lewis described so graphically? Can you think of any man wearing a collar who doesn’t have more options than the tattooed leader of a rock band? — With any age or gender of his preference? That a man of God should have to wander outside of his own little flock to find self-actualization at any level of Maslow’s hierarchy suggests that we are indeed living in changing times.
How far can you drive on any Maine road without passing at least one tiny chapel where you think to yourself, “That’s where the minister ran off with the organist.”
The humble Farmer
Not sure what your point is here in the last paragraph…. are you saying that a man with a collar should stay inside his own little flock and use his power and influence to soil the relationships with which he is trusted? Please clarify, because it sounds just disgusting the way this is written.
What you wrote sounds much more like something Erskine Caldwell might write, were you drunk when you wrote this piece?
OH my God, I’m not going to sleep a wink until that list is published (NOT), but I can hear those nosy people just having a fit …………………… Then again I suppose that while they a focused on this, their not poking their nose where it doesn’t belong in somebody’s else business.
Oh my god. Who the hell cares?! Some guys wanted some loving and someone was willing to provide in order to pay the bills. Big deal. How about we spend this amount of time and media attention on things that actually matter?
I agree–It;s tiring, and the only ones that really care are the people involved that got caught!–This stuff has been going on since time began–It will continue as long as men/women are willing to pay !
…and the ones getting all excited and titalated by the info, seem thrilled to have other people lives destroyed ..Some have become a nasty specimen of human beings—and they all seem to have the same nasty political leanings too. Who births these type of people ??? They don’t have a life, so are “enjoying” this voyeurism .Their day will come .
Guess they are going to name the Communities Big Shots now. The Holy Rollers and Bible Thumpers. You want to play you got to pay.
who cares!
You know what, nobody cares about this story, there is so much more important things that BDN should be reporting on. Move on and do some responsible reporting. The time on this story has run out.
agreed. Yes I know that there are families that may have been hurt by all of this. How about this. inform the families of all of this goings on, and have it stay the hell out of the press.
the middle east is falling apart as usual, our economy is in shambles. Maine itself is the oldest state in the union population wise, the list goes on and on.
Thanks BDN for continuing with this circus
The picture of Ms. Zumba sitting there like a Phd candidate is getting old, along with this entire story. Bring on some more fascinating stories about bath salt users!
It doesn’t seem like a wise use of limited financial resources to prosecute misdemeanors with very small fines. Definitely not getting your moneys worth.
I suspect Ms Wright can’t be found guilty of her crimes unless there are some clients charged.
Howie Carr can’t wait for it to be published….He is afterall the Irish Gossip on Radio.
This HAS to be one of the most inane legal processes to date. Really ? It’s going to take 6 months to release all 150 names of the shmucks who payed to play ? Give us a break with all the drawn out drama. Release the names and be done with it. Let these men take personal responsibility for their poor choices. Welcome to natural consequences ‘gentlemen.’
Any way that I can get on this list?
Money talks so that others don’t.
Why would a “john” give his name and address to a prostitue in the first palce?
I don’t think they all did. But the enterprising Ms Wright and her personal PI, Mr Strong, did some investigating and discovered the real names anyway. From there, she kept her records and made the videos.
This is sad how many families have been destroyed because of these men’s poor choices and this prostitute who obviously doesn’t care it was only about the money. I think personally it is wrong of the media to list the names because it is not fair to the spouses or girlfriends that will have to deal with this, they should be notified but it should not be public. I think that is just wrong and really feel bad for the families this has destroyed. I think many were single but what about the man with a family and what about their children?
“this prostitute who obviously doesn’t care it was only about the money.”
Why would she it is about the money if it wasn’t she wouldn’t charge them right?