Tulsa County Judge Denies Visiting Prostitute

Tulsa District Judge James Caputo said he has never used a prostitute, and any accusations that he has done so are false.

Caputo held a news conference Friday afternoon, October 19, in response to accounts issued by some news agencies that he was under investigation for using the services of a prostitute at a massage parlor.

Caputo, reading from a prepared statement, said two days ago he was called to his chambers and met with a man who said he was an assistant Oklahoma attorney general sent to the office by AG Mike Hunter. 

"I received the shock of my life," he told an audience of media members at his attorney's office on Friday afternoon. Caputo said he was told a woman had accused him of being a client of hers at an illicit massage parlor.

Caputo said he was told if he resigned from office before the November election, no one would ever hear about her allegations.

"I have never engaged the services of a prostitute," he said. 

Caputo said he was set up in a campaign scam designed to stop him from running for re-election, but said he knew there was no evidence that could exist against him.

Caputo said he was contacted by a woman about three weeks ago on Facebook and invited to dinner. He said as a single man, he understood it to be a social occasion. A second woman was present at the restaurant when he first arrived, but she left quickly, he said.

Caputo said he had dinner with the first woman, and they left the restaurant separately after food and casual conversation. 

The second woman later contacted him, and they met for dinner. He said that woman told him she saw men for money. Caputo said his reaction was "mixed surprise, but I reserved appearing judgmental."

Soon after she made the comment, he left the restaurant, the judge said.

"I have now learned that those two meetings were an attempt to set me up and both were recorded," he said. "The attempted set-up failed. I would never offer or pay money for sex."

Caputo said after he refused to resign, reporters began contacting him about the accusations. He believes the people behind the accusations leaked the story to the media to smear him 19 days before his re-election bid. 

"The playbook was likely taken from what we saw recently played out on the national scene with the Kavanaugh hearings," he said.

The judge concluded the news conference by saying he hoped the public recognized the attack was false, and he would have heightened sensitivity to false accusations in the future.

Attorney Clark Brewster said the judge would not be answering questions at this time.