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“It is always good to be aware of what is going on around you, before you step into a trap!”, Mario, a marketing adviser, and a dear friend told Rebecca, his wife that.

Last month, I was invited to The Italian Heritage Parade in San Francisco, when I ran into Mario and  Rebecca. They were very nice couple, I enjoyed their company, but they disagreed when Rebecca expressed her desire in becoming a Zumba instructor. Mario brought up the subject of that Zumba tittle-tattle, which took place in Kennebunk, Maine in 2012.

Not many people know the whole story about that scandal. That mom, Alexis Wright, was dragged into a scandal, or at least that’s what she said, defending herself, being accused of running a prostitution ring in Maine.

Wooh! It sounded kind of big matter, although similar cases had happened before, in other states, or in other professions, but that one was more applauding, coz it was related to something many of us loved and followed: Zumba. The media made a huge deal out of it!

You can check it yourself; almost in every newspaper, magazine, or other media sources: CBS, ABC , The Guardian, Press Herald, and plenty of other sources.  

Although the incident took place in the year 2012; it is still alive until today, where Alexis is followed by reporters and news rooms. Why? Coz, it is a hot stuff! Why again?!

Let’s see:

1- Who is involved in this scandal?

Zumba Instructor Alexis Wright, Mark Strong, and a list of 150 clients approx. and you can imagine now how many families are involved in this matter.

2- Why they were involved in this scandal?

It’s a brothel, or that is how it was described by the news, and the court.

3- Selling sex always brings problems, yet it is still going on similar to theft, and other illegal activities, why?

Coz it brings a lot of money to the table, and some can justify it for themselves.

4- What are the elements of this scandal, according to each party?

A Zumba studio, a Zumba female instructor, a private investigator, and their clients.

5- How did the police discover it?

A tip. In court documents, the police allege not only that Wright was a prostitute but that she shared her professional encounters with Strong, either by sending him digital tapes of them or live video via Skype. Wright was sexually involved with Strong, who was also a licensed private investigator.

http://www.vanityfair.com/unchanged/2013/02/zumba-alexis-wright-prostitution

6- What signs should make us suspect a place, and try to stay away from?

Cameras. There were secret cameras videoed all illegal activities.

7- Who are the victims in this case?

Whether it was the attendants, or the instructors working in this studio, “Prostitution is not legal in Maine, we don’t promote prostitution and we don’t want it in our communities. And the Kennebunk police did a fabulous job investigating this despite all the comments that were thrown out that it was a poor use of resources,” McGettigan said. “In fact, it was a good use of resources because it makes our community safer.”

8- What precautions should people who love Zumba take in order to avoid finding themselves in a similar situations?Think before doing something that you can regret in the future.

9- What’s our conclusion from this story?

Learn and know what your community consider right or wrong. For families and parents, be aware of what your kids are doing. It’s not bad to ask them whereabouts they are even if they didn’t like it. It is your duty to make sure that they are safe. http://boston.cbslocal.com/tag/alexis-wright/

She got fame, not being a Zumba instructor, but being a hooker! The pimp only got 20 days in jail sentence: http://perezhilton.com/tag/zumba_prostitution_scandal/#.VkEii-mFPIU

10- What were the consequences?

Wright served nearly six months in jail after pleading guilty to engaging in and promoting prostitution, as well as several welfare and tax-related charges. Her business partner, Mark Strong of Thomaston, was sentenced to 20 days in jail for his role.

Do we really know if this is true or untrue? Of course not. The reason I say this because many rulings were discovered to be unjust, and some people spend most of their lives in prison for something they didn’t do, but they couldn’t find anyone to hear them or to listen well for what they were saying.

Keep in mind that the publicity and the anger in people could put pressure on the judge and the jury to come up with a verdict solely aims at stopping the 1Zumba catcalls ♥

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