Kennebunk Prostitution Case Puts Maine Newsrooms in Quandary

10/10/2012   Reported By: Patty B. Wight
http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/24138/Default.aspx

The list of clients associated with an alleged prostitution business in Kennebunk is generating as much attention as the case itself. That's because the names on that list - over 100 of them - will inevitably become public, and that could have damaging consequences for associated family members. As Patty Wight reports, many newsrooms are grappling with the question of when - and if - to publish those names.

It's unclear whether the list of clients will become public before the case goes to trial. Prosecutors and defense attorneys have the names, though none have released them and no one seems eager to do so. Some police have the information as well, though Kennebunk Lt. Anthony Bean Burpee says client names will only become public as they are each charged.

"I mean there are a number of factors we need to go to in order to find probable cause to charge somebody," he says. "So if we don't have the evidence to be able to charge somebody, then we can't do that legally."

Bean Burpee says police started to issue summonses last Friday, but they don't become public until paperwork is filed with the courts. The editor of the York County Coast Star Laura Dolce. says she expects to see the first client names this Friday in a weekly press release from the Kennebunk Police Department.

Dolce says for decades, the York County Coast Star has published names in the police blotter without any exceptions. But this particular case has generated hours of newsroom discussion about what to do. The verdict? They will publish the names of those charged. 

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