Hartford Courant
Dave Altimari
An attorney for some of the accusers in an alleged sex trafficking ring is seeking a court order to force a Glastonbury business mogul to undergo an HIV test.
In a one-page motion filed in Danbury Superior Court, attorney Joel Faxon, who represents a half dozen accusers, is asking that Bruce Bemer either disclose records showing whether he is HIV positive or has some other sexually transmitted disease, or be ordered by a judge to take a test now with the results revealed to his alleged victims.
Faxon has asked to intervene in Bemer’s criminal case on the victims’ behalf to make the unusual request.
Bemer, 63, was charged last March with patronizing a trafficked person after he was accused of paying for sex with someone ensnared in a human-trafficking ring. Bemer is free on a $500,000 bail.
He was supposed to appear in Danbury Superior Court Wednesday but the case was continued until next week. It is unclear if a judge will hold a hearing on Faxon’s motion at that time or allow Faxon to join the case.
“The law provides that Bemer’s victims are entitled to know his status so they can seek proper medical attention,” Faxon said.
Bemer’s attorneys have previously issued subpoenas in the civil case ,pending in Bridgeport, trying to get medical information on some of the alleged victims, many of whom were clients of the state.The attorney general’s officer intervened in the case to keep those records from being released.
Bemer’s attorney issued subpoenas to several medical institutions, including the Connecticut Valley Hospital and the Western Connecticut Mental Health Network — both of which are run by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
The alleged ringleader was Robert King of Danbury, a convicted drug dealer and accused pimp who once lived in Manchester, police said. King, arrested last year, is accused of plying vulnerable victims with cash and cocaine.
In this case, police said, at least two of the 15 male victims were under state-funded care, with deep psychiatric disabilities and drug addictions.
Faxon has filed a civil lawsuit against Bemer on behalf of six accusers. Bemer has put up $25 million in assets to cover his potential liabilities stemming from those pending civil lawsuits.
Bemer is owner of the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. He also owns numerous other businesses, including Skylark Airpark in East Windsor, Bemer Petroleum, motorcycle dealerships and Bemer Gas & Welding Supplies in Glastonbury.
The majority of human trafficking cases are tried in federal court, but Bemer and a co-defendant, William Trefzger, were arrested through the Danbury State’s Attorney’s office on state charges under a Connecticut law passed four years ago that makes patronizing a trafficked person a state crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison.