Hundreds of ‘illicit’ Utah massage parlors suspected of prostitution, organized crime
https://kutv.com/news/local/hundreds-of-illicit-utah-massage-parlors-suspected-of-prostitution-organized-crime
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Hundreds of 'illicit' massage parlors in Utah are suspected of engaging in organized crime, including prostitution, human trafficking, money laundering and tax evasion, according to testimony at a Utah legislative hearing this week.
Mick Spilker, an investigator with the Utah Attorney General's Office, said a subscription website identifies parlors where 'Johns' can post reviews on sexual encounters—-and the site lists 363 parlors in the state.
"363 parlors, we only have 29 counties. Holy crap," said Rep. Ryan Wilcox, chair of the Legislature's Organized Crime Subcommittee. "This is not a minor thing happening. This is right under your nose."
Spilker said 199 of the parlors are "active," including more than 40 in Salt Lake City alone.
"The workers are not technically listed as employees with the owners," Spilker said. "They have no real records on who is working for them. They're referred to as contract workers, or they're just using space in the parlors to do their business."
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He said in one investigation, 23 people seeking sex showed up at a parlor in one day.
The Johns, according to Spilker, often pay cash, use cash apps, or even cryptocurrency.
"This issue has gotten worse and worse this year," said Wilcox. "It seems to be exponentially increasing. We had five cases earlier this summer in my county that I was aware of, and in the last week-and-a-half, we got three more."
Many of the massage workers are from Asia—-and according to the Utah Division of Professional Licensing, or DOPL, Salt Lake County has more illicit massage businesses than either Philadelphia or Denver Counties.
Now, state regulators are proposing to create a "massage establishment registry" to crack down on the illicit enterprises.
Owners/employers would have to submit fingerprints and consent to background checks.
In addition, DOPL proposes revoking business registrations and issuing "harsh fines" for criminal behavior. It said 20 states already have similar licensing guidelines.
Right now, even investigators' raids on businesses are not putting some parlors out of business.
"Once we've served our search warrants and thought we might have closed it (a parlor) down, they're open the next week," said Spilker, "because all they do is...turn it around to somebody else, and they come back and get a new business license, and they start right back up."
