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Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010

Reports give details of undercover police raids on massage parlors

Closed police files from raids at Macon massage parlors shed light on operations that undercover officers found there.

In 2008 and 2009, a series of raids targeted more than a dozen Macon-area massage parlors and spas that police suspected of being houses of prostitution. As a result, more than 20 women were arrested on various sex charges.

Seven closed Macon police case files describe how undercover police officers entered businesses and paid for massages. Costs ranged from $40 for a half-hour massage to $140 for sex.

In most cases, the officers were led to rooms where they were asked to undress. Some of them were led to showers or were bathed by women working at the massage parlors.

One undercover officer who went to Paradise Health Spa, 1032 Gray Highway, in June 2008 noted that the woman who performed his massage was wearing a leopard-spotted nightgown.

A woman at Ultimate Spa, 3355 Pio Nono Ave., asked an undercover officer if he was with the police while she gave him a back massage in July 2008.

In each of the cases, the women asked the officers if they wanted additional services. In at least two cases, the women gestured that they were offering sex.

At Tokyo Health Spa, 2790 Riverside Drive, a woman asked an officer in June 2008 if he wanted other services after a 10-minute massage. When he replied that he just wanted a massage, the woman said “$40 is for the house, massage, bath and relaxation. We are extra,” according to a police report.

Some of the women touched the officers’ genitals before offering additional services.

At V.I.P. Massage, 3266 Pio Nono Ave., a woman initiated a sex act on an officer against the officer’s will in July 2008. Then she stood in front of the door, keeping the officer from leaving until she was paid for the act, according to one report.

Officers didn’t note in their reports any signs that the women were living at the massage parlors or give other indications that they suspected human trafficking.

When called Friday afternoon, one woman at Ultimate Spa, who would only identify herself as Lisa, said the business offers baths — but no sex.

Calls to Tokyo Health Spa were unanswered Friday, but a woman did come to a small window just inside the front door of the business. She said “the boss” wasn’t there.

Curtains were drawn shut at V.I.P. Massage. A sign was posted advertising that the space was for lease.

A sign at Paradise Health Spa said the business had moved.

Macon Police Chief Mike Burns said officers are still monitoring massage parlors.

“We will continue to make sure all laws are followed and no person is working against their free will,” he said.

Cases are still pending in State Court of Bibb County for three women arrested in connection with the raids, said Rebecca Grist, a prosecutor with the Bibb County Solicitor’s Office.

Additional cases haven’t been resolved because bench warrants still are active for some of the women’s arrest. Some of the cases remain under investigation, Grist said.

The women who have resolved their cases have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced.

Most of the women were ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and serve a year on probation. A few of the women were banned from Bibb County in lieu of being sentenced to probation, she said.

Information from The Telegraph’s archives was included in this report.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.