The clerk agreed to file charges against the first 12 men whose cases were called, saying in court that there is “sufficient evidence to establish probable cause.”

A Cambridge magistrate criminally charged 12 of the 28 alleged customers of a high-end brothel network that operated in parts of Cambridge and Washington D.C. suburbs at a Friday morning hearing.

The hearings are held to determine if criminal complaints will be issued against the alleged customers of the commercial sex ring law enforcement shut down in 2023.