New bylaw could halt illegal massage business

Date: 5/1/2012

April 30, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW — The Board of Selectmen and Planning Board are attempting to regain control of the decision-making regarding the operation of massage parlors in town with an addition to the zoning bylaws.

Planning Director Robyn Macdonald told Reminder Publications that the Board of Selectmen has written an addition to zoning bylaw 3.0751, sections 7.2 and 7.3, which will be voted on at the Annual Town Meeting. The bylaw, if passed, would require all businesses operating as a massage therapist facility to obtain a special permit.

A public hearing regarding this warrant will take place on May 8 at 6 p.m.

"One of the major reasons for this is because of complaints and problems regarding someone living in a specific facility and suspicious activity taking place at that location," Macdonald said.

The location in question is the Korean Massage at 611 North Main St., which has been tied to illegal immigration and prostitution.

A basic Internet search showed Korean Massage listed as one of 100 erotic massage parlors in Massachusetts on www.eroticmp.com, a website that charges up to $24.99 per month to provide members with information on such establishments, including the specific services they provide and the forms of payment they accept.

Sgt. Patrick Manley of the East Longmeadow Police Department said that location has been subject to police action on three different occasions based on tips from the public.

"In the three times we have been there [since 2009], we have never encountered anyone who was in the country legally or properly licensed for massage therapy," he said. "Two of the three times we sent someone in undercover, they were offered sexual acts in exchange for money."

Manley explained that licenses for businesses offering massage therapy used to be awarded by the Board of Health through the Board of Selectmen. However, due to a recent reorganization by the state, licenses must now be obtained through the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure. A license for a single establishment is $50 annually and $150 for multiple establishments.

Korean Massage's license is currently under review, Manley added.

"The Division of Licensure was given this responsibility, but not given any more resources or manpower," he said. "The town can address issues with Building Codes and Board of Health issues, but we can't do anything about the license."

The bylaw would give the Planning Board the authority to halt the operation of a massage therapy business through a special permit application review.

"This is not for new businesses only," Macdonald said. "Any business that currently offers massage therapy would have the get a special permit by Dec. 31 in order to continue doing so."

Local police were first notified of a potential problem at Korean Massage in October 2009 when former State Police Detective Lieutenant and current Federal Marshall John Gibbons contacted them. A coordinated investigation showed that several parlors in the Pioneer Valley were owned by the same entity, operating out of Queens, N.Y., Manley said.

While no sexual acts were offered during an undercover operation associated with the investigation, it was learned that all of the parties working at Korean Massage were illegal immigrants and not licensed and that the establishment itself was operating with an expired license.

In a second investigation that commenced in December 2010, police determined that two to three persons were living at the North Main Street location.

"At the end of the day, we would see someone turn off the sign, but we never saw anyone come out," Manley said. "In the morning, we wouldn't see anyone go in and sometimes we could see someone cooking breakfast behind the building."

An undercover operation followed and resulted in the offering of sexual acts and subsequent arrests in February 2011. Again, all employees present were illegal and unlicensed, however the business had a valid license.

The employee arrested for prostitution was found guilty of working without a license, but not guilty of the greater offense.

Most recently, an operation in December 2011 yielded similar results.

"In these three instances, many of the people involved were repeat offenders," Manley said.