Prominent Boston Bishop Attempted to Solicit Prostitute during Undercover Sting, Massachusetts State Police Say

By Phil Demers
MassLive
June 1, 2017

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/06/state_police_prominent_boston.html

A. Livingstone Foxworth allegedly offered $150 to a state police detective posing as a prostitute on Tuesday.

Prominent Boston Bishop A. Livingston Foxworth was among those caught up in a recent undercover prostitution sting, reports The Boston Herald.

Allegedly seeking sex services, Foxworth on Tuesday responded to a phony Backpage.com ad placed by Massachusetts State Police.

According to police, Foxworth agreed to pay the "prostitute" -- actually an undercover detective -- $150 and provided his cell phone number and a Pine Street address during the exchange, according to The Herald.

Foxworth later arrived at the address and police confirmed that the cell phone number was indeed his.

Foxworth, senior pastor at the Grace Church of All Nations in Dorchester since 1979, appeared Wednesday in Boston Municipal Court, where he faced a single charge of paying for sexual conduct. Nine others were caught up in the same undercover prostitution sting -- a regular exercise conducted by authorities statewide with the aim of reducing demand.

As The Herald also pointed out, Foxworth performed a public blessing on Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker after the latter was elected in 2014.

"Gov. Baker is saddened by this news and is confident the courts will examine the facts and reach an appropriate decision," Lizzy Guyton, spokeswoman for Baker, told The Herald. "The Baker-Polito Administration has made combating human trafficking a priority by working across state government to enact anti-trafficking policies and proposing legislation to give law enforcement more tools to crack down on trafficking-related crimes."

Hassan Williams, the pastor's attorney, attempted to downgrade the charge to a civil infraction in court Wednesday to no avail.

"This is a matter that your honor has arraigned for almost 10 other defendants today and no action was taken with them regarding a civil infraction," Jessica Meyer, a prosecutor with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office replied.

Contact: pdemers@masslive.com