KENNEBUNK — The other tenants took notice when a constant stream of men, some dressed in sports jackets and other business attire, entered the back door of a small office building that housed the Pura Vida/ZUMBA Studio.

Some of the men carried gym bags, others arrived empty-handed, and during the half hour to an hour that each stayed, the owner of a hair salon downstairs heard “a lot of moaning and groaning,” according to a police affidavit filed Monday in Biddeford District Court.

The court document details allegations that a woman from Wells charged the men for sex, secretly video recorded their encounters and provided their license plate numbers to an insurance agent and private investigator from Thomaston who had access to the state motor vehicle database.

The agent, Mark G. Strong, 56, was arrested Tuesday on charges of promotion of prostitution. He was released from Knox County Jail after posting $5,000 bail. No charges have been brought against the woman, identified in the affidavit as Alexis Wright. Kennebunk police said Wednesday they expect additional charges to result from the months-long investigation, which involved several southern Maine police agencies and state and federal law enforcement officials.

Police said they received anonymous phone calls about suspicious activity at the Pura Vida/ZUMBA dance studio last September, when it was on York Street. Officers spoke with workers at nearby businesses who told them that men would arrive at the dance studio at all hours and then leave a short while later.

Wright later moved the dance studio to High Street, where her landlord said the same frequent arrivals and departures were occurring, the affidavit says. The building owner said he also did an Internet search for Wright and found a site with a video of her performing a sex act. He told police the video appeared to have been recorded in the space he was leasing to Wright.

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In February, police obtained search warrants for the York Street site of the dance studio, the High Street location and Wright’s home in Wells. The arrest affidavit said they found electronic client ledgers allegedly including “meticulous records” of her sexual encounters and a monetary value assigned to each.

Warrants issued for the searches have been sealed at the request of the York County District Attorney.

Police said the records suggest Wright earned about $150,000 from the sex acts.

No time period is mentioned for when she would have made that money, but Wright originally received a permit for the York Street dance studio in March 2010.

The affidavit said Wright was in contact with Strong before clients arrived, and she sent some of the video recordings of her encounters with clients to Strong and provided him with license plate numbers, suggesting that he “run them.”

Strong is a licensed private investigator in Maine and could have accessed the Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ database to identify people, using their car registration numbers, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit said police have linked Strong and Wright through postal, telephone and bank records.

Police are releasing few other details, including any estimates on when additional people might be charged in the case. The affidavit does not allege any effort to extort money from any of the men.

Lt. Anthony Burpee of the Kennebunk Police Department said there hasn’t been an arrest for prostitution in the town during the 14 years he’s been on the force.


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