Deborah Jean Palfrey 1956-2008
5/1/08

             People, I have some devastating news. Well, considering that most of you reading this are probably not proffesional fantasies such as myself, maybe it’s only devastating for me and a couple hundred thousand other people.
            If you haven’t already heard (I’m not surprised if you haven’t) Deborah Jean Palfrey, most recently branded The DC Madam, has passed away today, apparently by her own hand.  Palfrey’s mother found her hanging by a nylon cord in their home just north of Tampa. Deborah Jean Palfrey was 52.
            I’ve had my eyes on Palfrey’s case since it came to fruition last year. On April 15, Palfrey was found guilty of racketeering, money laundering and mail fraud, for which she faced a maximum sentence of 55 years.
            Deborah Palfrey fought tooth and nail against her persecution until her verdict. Under the hottest media scrutiny and duress from federal investigation, Palfrey announced that she would fund her defense by selling her extensively notorious “black book” to the highest bidder. The fact that her alleged prostitution ring operated for roughly 13 years and catered primarily to Washington DC’s political elite certainly made for a dangerously awkward situation, hugely sided against Ms. Palfrey. Yes, the odds were stacked, no, relentlessly amassed, against her.
            In several private interviews*, Palfrey clearly stated her own thoughts on the issue of her arrest. Pretty much, she’d be damned if she spent one day in prison, much less 55 years. Apparently Palfrey had had a small taste of prison resulting from a past, far lesser prostitution charge. Clearly, she had made up her mind as to how her life would play out.
            This news and unfolding of events troubles me terribly. The way that sexuality and the commodification of sex is being acknowledged in America is presently rather vicious, hungry and jeering. 
           

 

 

I have not been around long enough to know first hand if this is a new social trend or if history is just repeating itself as usual. Have people always been titillated by unveiling the most intimate of personal exchanges, stuff that is usually no one’s business? Yes, I suppose they have…but has the scrutiny and outcry ever been quiet so piercing? I cannot fathom being in Deborah’s position…can you imagine the hell the patrons of her business must be going through? Can you?
            Don’t worry, it’s not that bad. Usually, unless your Spitzer or Clinton or someone, you just get a media scolding and a devastated marriage. Various senators and other elected officials* were discovered to have employed Palfrey’s callgirls on various occasions. None of these gents were call to testify at Palfrey’s trial. Nope….not really concerned about them…just a tsk, tsk, slap on the wrist. Palfrey's take on this lack of evenly distributed justice?
            "That's very hypocritical," she says. "Why aren't these people under arrest? Why just me?"
            "I think I ran a very nice operation," Palfrey said of Pamela Martin and Associates, which she closed for good in August 2006, two months before federal agents raided her California home, “"I think I empowered a lot of women. I got a lot of women through graduate school.  I think the people that used the service were by and large quite pleased."
            Rest in peace. God knows you need it.