DANBURY — A Glastonbury businessman allegedly connected to a sprawling prostitution and human trafficking ring that preyed on troubled men for decades went on trial in Superior Court in Danbury Tuesday.
Bruce Bemer, owner of the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, a motorcycle dealership on Hartford’s Leibert Road and numerous other businesses, faces seven counts of patronizing a trafficked person.
Bemer has acknowledged having sex with young adult men, but his lawyer says he had no idea they were being sexually exploited and forced into prostitution.
Bemer, 65, and two other men, Robert King and William Trefzger, were charged in March 2017 with a variety of offenses related to the human trafficking of young men suffering from mental illness and addiction. At least two of the men were recruited by King at a Danbury group home that serves people with mental illness and addictions.
An arrest warrant affidavit says King “sought out young men with varying degrees of psychological disabilities.”
“King would fraudulently befriend these young males, offer them work, money, food and other fake inducements, exploit weakness which is often drug based, and provide them with illegal drugs to the point they were financially indebted to him.”
According to the affidavit, “Bemer stated that he believed that during a 20- to 25-year period, King brought him eight to 10 different boys for sex, most on multiple occasions. Bemer stated that he paid approximately $200-250 per occasion,” the affidavit said.
Although he often referred to them as “boys” or “kids,” Bemer said they were adults when he had sex with them. However, he said he stopped having sex with some of them because they grew too old, according to the affidavit.
Before the first witness was called to the stand Monday, Bemer’s defense attorney, Anthony Spinella of Manchester, went on the offensive, arguing to Judge Robin Pavia that she should dismiss the case because the state did not turn over potentially exculpatory information in a timely manner.
At issue, Spinella argued, is a call convicted serial killer William Devin Howell made to the Danbury state’s attorney’s office reporting that King, a key figure in the case and Howell’s one-time cell mate, said he would lie to reduce his own prison sentence.
Howell, who is serving six life terms for his crimes, called on Feb. 19 and State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky talked to him, according to comments in court.
Spinella argued to the judge that he should have been notified about the call immediately. He only found out, he said, because one of Howell’s lawyers, Jeffrey Kestenband, is assisting with the Bemer defense.
“We have never been given this information,” Spinella said. He also argued that King, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit human trafficking, has changed his story and that the state was slow to provide that information.
“The trafficker Robert King, the guy who was recruiting these kids and bringing them to my client, has changed his story,” Spinella said.
Prosecutor Sharmese Hodge acknowledged she was late in formally notifying Bemer’s defense about a followup interview authorities had with King, but disputed his role in the case and Spinella’s interpretation of his comments.
On Monday, she delivered to Spinella an inspector’s report about his interview with Howell and his allegations about King. She again disputed Spinella’s interpretation.
Spinella insisted to the judge that the case be dismissed, and short of that urged the judge to bar King from testifying and to conduct a hearing on how the Howell information was handled.
The judge denied the request to dismiss the charges and Hodge said she would not be calling King as a witness.
An assault charge is pending against Howell for beating up King when they were cellmates.
The first witness called was retired Danbury police Det. Daniel Trompetta, who worked with FBI Special Agent Kurt Siuzdak to investigate the case. Trompetta outlined how his department got a tip about a potential sex trafficking ring based in Danbury, King’s role and the use of men with mental illness and addiction problems as prostitutes.
The investigation eventually identified men who were customers of King, including Bemer and Trefzger.
Danbury police arrested Bemer and Trefzger in 2017. King, who has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Bemer, was arrested earlier.
Spinella, in cross examination, acknowledged that Bemer was a customer of King’s prostitution ring, and is expected to argue that King did not know the men were being trafficked by King.
Trompetta and Siuzdak went to interview Bemer at his office in Glastonbury and Bemer readily admitted to his conduct with the men King delivered to him, Trompetta testified.
“He was very calm, very polite, he denied nothing,” Trompetta testified. Bemer said he’d know King for more than 20 years and that King had been bringing him young men for sex.
David Owens can be reached at dowens@courant.com.
