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I have read today that "New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft charged with soliciting prostitution in human trafficking probe". In the article itself, they state the that:

"Robert Kraft, is being criminally charged with soliciting prostitution at a spa in Florida, where surveillance video showed him receiving sexual services, police said Friday"

Also, police says that 25 other people are being charged 'with soliciting prostitution', and that 5 Massage Parlors are being shut-down due to the investigation.

So I can only assume that those Massage Parlors did not check people's IDs for age etc. So theoretically an underage child could have went there to get the "same services". The police seems to have planted hidden video cameras and were recording all these clients getting sexual treatments (assuming sex and handjobs).

So now comes the legal question:

  1. Can the police video record you naked or having sex?
  2. Can the police video record underage children naked or having sex?
  3. If the police record you, and the video clip gets hacked or leaked, what is the police's legal responsibility? Wouldn't it be distribution of pedophilia materials which is illegal?
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  • Has there been any charges of underaged sexual solicitation or prostitution? Trafficking in Persons is not an age dependent crime (although there are children who are victims of this) and can happen to adults as well.
    – hszmv
    Commented Feb 22, 2019 at 19:07
  • That was not the question. The question was about the acts the police took in this case example. During such investigation they might have essentially video recorded underage children (clients not the workers) naked, it even getting sexual services. Which on its own is illegal.
    – KingsInnerSoul
    Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 0:50
  • The linked site blocks Tor, but the article is archived in the Wayback Machine. I see nothing in the article that suggests that anybody there was underage. Of course, they could be, but that could be an issue in any hidden camera investigation. What is so special about this one?
    – Brian Drake
    Commented Mar 31, 2022 at 13:29

2 Answers 2

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Ordinarily, it would be illegal to secretly videotape a person at a massage parlor under Florida law, where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. However law also specifically exempts "Law enforcement agency conducting surveillance for a law enforcement purpose" as well as a "Security system when a written notice is conspicuously posted on the premises stating that a video surveillance system has been installed for the purpose of security for the premises [or] (c) Video surveillance device that is installed in such a manner that the presence of the device is clearly and immediately obvious". Audio recording, on the other hand, is prohibited unless there is a warrant (Florida is an all-party consent state). The circumstances surrounding the collection of the video evidence is not presently obvious.

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1 Can the police video record you naked or having sex?

Yes

2 Can the police video record underage children naked or having sex?

Yes

3 If the police record you, and the video clip gets hacked or leaked, what is the police's legal responsibility?

If they were negligent in the way they kept the video then they could be civilly sued for damages.

Wouldn't it be distribution of pedophilia materials which is illegal?

Yes, but by the hacker, not the police. Since the clip is evidence in an investigation it falls into one of the exemptions about possessing child pornography.

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    "Can the police video record underage children naked or having sex?" There are some bounds, not terribly well defined, that prevent police video from doing that in cases where the crime could be prevented as it would amount to a violation of civil rights when the police have control (unknown to the perpetrators) comparable to an incarceration setting (e.g. in a sting operation).
    – ohwilleke
    Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 0:31
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    @ohwilleke clearly there are lots of circumstances where such a recording would be unlawful but the OP appears to be asking if there is a blanket prohibition which there isn’t
    – Dale M ♦
    Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 1:06

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