massage and bodywork professionals

a community of practitioners

A very shady "spa" opened up recently in my small town. Just the atmosphere projected on the outside makes you wonder what really goes on inside. Not that I've had the gumption yet to wander in... However, it has not kept my busy brain and typing skills idle. The internet can give you all kinds of knowledge. Some of which you'd rather not be privy to. This being said, if you have any questionable places in your town and you can't really find any information, I have come across a website that may keep you in the loop. (eroticmp.com) Just because the owners of these establishments can keep their mouths closed, doesn't ensure that their seedy clientele can do so. I have discovered that there are almost 150 (known) in my state. A licensed state. Question is: why aren't the authorities doing anything? And what are you going to do about the ones near you?

Views: 3508

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Click on this link to read about recent bust of prostitution ring o...

Ok, so I have mixed feelings about this. I am happy that something is being done by someone to try to root out prostitution rings in MA, but I am utterly amazed and frustrated that it appears these individuals can operate with impunity one day, get slapped on the wrist the next and can and do reopen immediately afterwards:

A woman who owns three 'spas' in Massachusetts on the South Shore was just busted yesterday for offering to sell 12 'masseuses' for the purpose of prostitution to an undercover cop. According to news reports this woman who owns the spas doesn't have a license in MT and this is not the first time that she's been charged with illegal activities. According to one of the sex guide blogs I use to research seedy spas, this woman used to be a chiropractor who owned a business in a neighboring town years ago. The business was also busted for being a front for a prostitution ring. Apparently this woman operates the businesses with her sister so this is a 'family run' deal. When she was younger she herself offered nude massage and sexual services at her chiropractic business which was closed down. Her current spas are in three towns (Brockton, Canton and Norwood) and are all reportedly 'luxurious' with showers in each of the rooms etc.  According to the news report I heard this morning, the darn woman posted bail yesterday and is planning to reopen all three of her spas today!

For the life of me I cannot understand how on earth someone like this is not in jail serving time? Why would the state of Massachusetts authorize and license her establishments when she has a known history of operating businesses as fronts for prostitution rings?  AARRRGGGGHHHH!! I just want to scream!!!!

WOW!  i mean really, if they are going to keep allowing these people or places to reopen then why even have a licensing statue anyway for MTs?  cause it seems to me anyone can call themselves an MT or LMT and offer such services and not get pentalized for it. i don't understand.  they law contradicts itself, you can't touch anyone and get paid unless you have a license but if you dont have a license you get a slap on the wrist and your back "touching" people the same day. really? i want to scream with you!
money
I know in Florida all you have to do is report it and they will be closed down. They all need to be reported it gives us a bad name!

There are a number of "Reiki" Massage parlors that have been popping up in the Salt Lake area, luckily some of them have been caught. The down side is they are now looking for massage therapists to teach these girls massage under an apprenticeship, I have talked to a couple of these owners and the girls, and I just cant bring myself to teach the girls the real art of massage and healing. 

To answer your question, you can try and contact the massage board/licensing/police in your city/state and ask them what is being done, and if you have evidence submit it to them so that something can be done. I really wish it was legal just so they can advertise under their own name and not under massage.

Hmm. I have contacted my massage licensing board using my own name and they are so small that they don't even have the bandwidth to address routine questions let alone do anything to about this issue. All they can do is license businesses then not check up to make sure they are legitimate. Makes me think my certification and license aren't worth the paper they were written on. I've even contacted my local chamber of commerce, and police (anonymously of course) and provided links to and excerpts from the sex sites that mentioned by name the local massage places (these included names of businesses, addresses, name of therapists and descriptions of activities going on). My 2 or 3 person licensing board told me to complete a form and submit the information anonymously, the local chamber of commerce said "Isn't that terrible" and did nothing, and the police never responded or even acknowledged the information sent.  The massage parlors I tried to report (including the one two blocks from me) are still open 24 hours a day (at least the sign "Open" is on at all hours of the night) and when I check there are still new updates about the sexual activities going on in the places on the erotic sites I use for research.  So I now give up. If the licensing board is too small and ineffectual to do anything and if the police turn a blind eye (BTW I hear rumors that some of them are even clients of these places), and if my local chamber of commerce couldn't care less then what on earth am I to do about it? I guess absolutely nothing.

Internet postings and advertising are regarded as hearsay and not usable in court. All it amounts to is innuendo and there isn't enough money in any of the agencies mentioned to track down every charge made by one business against another for simple misdemeanor fines or no return. To get attention for complaints you must be able to submit a complaint that is solid. this is usually from a customer, employee, observer such as neighbor or adjoining business. Police often receive free service for keeping blind eyes. You have done what you could. The only effective way in these situations is to go to the news media to see if they are interested in checking it out. This would probably get their interest at election time.

Tonya, the massage Program Director of my school is a member of the State Board, and even she can't do anything about it-- the corruption goes too deep.

Tonya Brooks-Taylor said:

Hmm. I have contacted my massage licensing board using my own name and they are so small that they don't even have the bandwidth to address routine questions let alone do anything to about this issue. All they can do is license businesses then not check up to make sure they are legitimate. Makes me think my certification and license aren't worth the paper they were written on. I've even contacted my local chamber of commerce, and police (anonymously of course) and provided links to and excerpts from the sex sites that mentioned by name the local massage places (these included names of businesses, addresses, name of therapists and descriptions of activities going on). My 2 or 3 person licensing board told me to complete a form and submit the information anonymously, the local chamber of commerce said "Isn't that terrible" and did nothing, and the police never responded or even acknowledged the information sent.  The massage parlors I tried to report (including the one two blocks from me) are still open 24 hours a day (at least the sign "Open" is on at all hours of the night) and when I check there are still new updates about the sexual activities going on in the places on the erotic sites I use for research.  So I now give up. If the licensing board is too small and ineffectual to do anything and if the police turn a blind eye (BTW I hear rumors that some of them are even clients of these places), and if my local chamber of commerce couldn't care less then what on earth am I to do about it? I guess absolutely nothing.

Gary it isn't so much the corruption which does exist especially on local levels but the fact that this type of crime is too low level for the high cost of conviction. Personally I would rather the government spends the limited funds on arresting armed assault and pedophile perpetrators.

Gary W Addis said:

Tonya, the massage Program Director of my school is a member of the State Board, and even she can't do anything about it-- the corruption goes too deep.

Tonya Brooks-Taylor said:

Hmm. I have contacted my massage licensing board using my own name and they are so small that they don't even have the bandwidth to address routine questions let alone do anything to about this issue. All they can do is license businesses then not check up to make sure they are legitimate. Makes me think my certification and license aren't worth the paper they were written on. I've even contacted my local chamber of commerce, and police (anonymously of course) and provided links to and excerpts from the sex sites that mentioned by name the local massage places (these included names of businesses, addresses, name of therapists and descriptions of activities going on). My 2 or 3 person licensing board told me to complete a form and submit the information anonymously, the local chamber of commerce said "Isn't that terrible" and did nothing, and the police never responded or even acknowledged the information sent.  The massage parlors I tried to report (including the one two blocks from me) are still open 24 hours a day (at least the sign "Open" is on at all hours of the night) and when I check there are still new updates about the sexual activities going on in the places on the erotic sites I use for research.  So I now give up. If the licensing board is too small and ineffectual to do anything and if the police turn a blind eye (BTW I hear rumors that some of them are even clients of these places), and if my local chamber of commerce couldn't care less then what on earth am I to do about it? I guess absolutely nothing.

Daniel, this is Mississippi I'm talking about.  Corruption abounds.  Ever read Missisippi Mud, ever read about the Dixie Mafia?  There were casinos operating openly in Biloxi when it was illegal everywhere except Vegas.  It's considered "victimless crime"-- but WE, our reputations as massage therapists, are victims of it...the young girls who are forced into prostitution disguised as massage are victims of it. 

Tonya is right: it ain't gonna change because we the people aren't incensed by it.  With our complacency, we contribute to the proliferation of unlicensed, unregulated "massage parlors" who force drug addicts to provide "happy endings".  And not just anyone can get away with operating one-- you got to know who to pay off, you got to have the permission of the mobster-local politician-police chief--sheriff coalition.

Daniel Cohen said:

Gary it isn't so much the corruption which does exist especially on local levels but the fact that this type of crime is too low level for the high cost of conviction. Personally I would rather the government spends the limited funds on arresting armed assault and pedophile perpetrators.

Gary W Addis said:

Tonya, the massage Program Director of my school is a member of the State Board, and even she can't do anything about it-- the corruption goes too deep.

Tonya Brooks-Taylor said:

Hmm. I have contacted my massage licensing board using my own name and they are so small that they don't even have the bandwidth to address routine questions let alone do anything to about this issue. All they can do is license businesses then not check up to make sure they are legitimate. Makes me think my certification and license aren't worth the paper they were written on. I've even contacted my local chamber of commerce, and police (anonymously of course) and provided links to and excerpts from the sex sites that mentioned by name the local massage places (these included names of businesses, addresses, name of therapists and descriptions of activities going on). My 2 or 3 person licensing board told me to complete a form and submit the information anonymously, the local chamber of commerce said "Isn't that terrible" and did nothing, and the police never responded or even acknowledged the information sent.  The massage parlors I tried to report (including the one two blocks from me) are still open 24 hours a day (at least the sign "Open" is on at all hours of the night) and when I check there are still new updates about the sexual activities going on in the places on the erotic sites I use for research.  So I now give up. If the licensing board is too small and ineffectual to do anything and if the police turn a blind eye (BTW I hear rumors that some of them are even clients of these places), and if my local chamber of commerce couldn't care less then what on earth am I to do about it? I guess absolutely nothing.

In Anchorage...If you show that you graduated from a Massage School with certain amount of hours.. They give you a license to do massage... The people that work the parlors show diplomas from fake schools in California.. And they give them a license.  Everybody knows it.  But they do it anyway.  So the laws against prostitution here are as fake as the fake schools they accept for the massage license in the first place...You just need a fake diploma here to do massage work or be a prostitute.  Or both.. take your choice...

Daniel Cohen said:

Gary it isn't so much the corruption which does exist especially on local levels but the fact that this type of crime is too low level for the high cost of conviction. Personally I would rather the government spends the limited funds on arresting armed assault and pedophile perpetrators.

Gary W Addis said:

Tonya, the massage Program Director of my school is a member of the State Board, and even she can't do anything about it-- the corruption goes too deep.

Tonya Brooks-Taylor said:

Hmm. I have contacted my massage licensing board using my own name and they are so small that they don't even have the bandwidth to address routine questions let alone do anything to about this issue. All they can do is license businesses then not check up to make sure they are legitimate. Makes me think my certification and license aren't worth the paper they were written on. I've even contacted my local chamber of commerce, and police (anonymously of course) and provided links to and excerpts from the sex sites that mentioned by name the local massage places (these included names of businesses, addresses, name of therapists and descriptions of activities going on). My 2 or 3 person licensing board told me to complete a form and submit the information anonymously, the local chamber of commerce said "Isn't that terrible" and did nothing, and the police never responded or even acknowledged the information sent.  The massage parlors I tried to report (including the one two blocks from me) are still open 24 hours a day (at least the sign "Open" is on at all hours of the night) and when I check there are still new updates about the sexual activities going on in the places on the erotic sites I use for research.  So I now give up. If the licensing board is too small and ineffectual to do anything and if the police turn a blind eye (BTW I hear rumors that some of them are even clients of these places), and if my local chamber of commerce couldn't care less then what on earth am I to do about it? I guess absolutely nothing.

I'm thinking about opening a fake brothel, that only does therapeutic massage work. 

Gordon J. Wallis said:

In Anchorage...If you show that you graduated from a Massage School with certain amount of hours.. They give you a license to do massage... The people that work the parlors show diplomas from fake schools in California.. And they give them a license.  Everybody knows it.  But they do it anyway.  So the laws against prostitution here are as fake as the fake schools they accept for the massage license in the first place...You just need a fake diploma here to do massage work or be a prostitute.  Or both.. take your choice...

Daniel Cohen said:

Gary it isn't so much the corruption which does exist especially on local levels but the fact that this type of crime is too low level for the high cost of conviction. Personally I would rather the government spends the limited funds on arresting armed assault and pedophile perpetrators.

Gary W Addis said:

Tonya, the massage Program Director of my school is a member of the State Board, and even she can't do anything about it-- the corruption goes too deep.

Tonya Brooks-Taylor said:

Hmm. I have contacted my massage licensing board using my own name and they are so small that they don't even have the bandwidth to address routine questions let alone do anything to about this issue. All they can do is license businesses then not check up to make sure they are legitimate. Makes me think my certification and license aren't worth the paper they were written on. I've even contacted my local chamber of commerce, and police (anonymously of course) and provided links to and excerpts from the sex sites that mentioned by name the local massage places (these included names of businesses, addresses, name of therapists and descriptions of activities going on). My 2 or 3 person licensing board told me to complete a form and submit the information anonymously, the local chamber of commerce said "Isn't that terrible" and did nothing, and the police never responded or even acknowledged the information sent.  The massage parlors I tried to report (including the one two blocks from me) are still open 24 hours a day (at least the sign "Open" is on at all hours of the night) and when I check there are still new updates about the sexual activities going on in the places on the erotic sites I use for research.  So I now give up. If the licensing board is too small and ineffectual to do anything and if the police turn a blind eye (BTW I hear rumors that some of them are even clients of these places), and if my local chamber of commerce couldn't care less then what on earth am I to do about it? I guess absolutely nothing.

Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2024   Created by ABMP.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service