Published: Monday, April 9, 2007
Liberty now free of massage parlors
Police say any new massage establishments will face scrutiny.
LIBERTY — Township police say the last of four massage parlors with a history of sexual activity has been closed and court action taken against the employees.
Detective Sgt. Toby Meloro said the township, under state guidelines, began regulating the massage parlors in 1997, requiring routine inspections and licensing.
At that time, he said, the township had two of the massage establishments, Tokyo Health Spa and Queens Health Spa on Belmont Avenue; as well as Osaka Health Spa on Liberty Street and VIP Health Spa on Amherst Street.
According to Meloro, officers also began conducting routine undercover operations at each of the businesses once the regulations took effect.
"We understood there might be some problems at the businesses and we had had some problems there," said Meloro.
After the undercover investigations, police determined that lewd acts were taking place behind the closed doors of the massage businesses. By the time the doors to the last business closed, police had filed 87 charges for acts of lewd sexuality against employees and others associated with the various massage establishments.
What took place
Meloro said two of the establishments quickly went out of business after the police investigations and a few arrests. The third establishment closed shortly after the first two.
The VIP Health Spa, which had been located on Amherst Street, was a different story.
According to Meloro, police would make an arrest at the Amherst Street location, but the business would undergo a change in ownership — causing the process to start all over again.
"We couldn't get them. They were coy. We would get so close, and they would shut down and switch ownership," he said. "If not for assistance from the attorney general we would not have been able to shut them down."
Township police and state officials conducted an eight-day undercover investigation of the business late last year.
A township officer posed as a customer and entered the business. While in the business, according to a filing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, the officer "was told to get completely undressed, and the employee of VIP engaged in multiple acts of lewd behavior."
According to the court filing, a second officer posed as a customer and went to the business four days later and experienced the same treatment as the earlier undercover officer.
Bad for business
The building that once held the business is now boarded up. Only a sign across the front bearing its name remains.
Police Chief Anthony Slifka said many communities have problems with such establishments. He said females of all ages are typically brought to the United States from southeast Asia and forced or coerced into the business. Sometimes, he said, men marry the women to gain citizenship before they enter the business.
Slifka said having such activity in the township is bad for business and bad for the community as a whole.
"It brings an element that you don't want to your community. You put a couple of these businesses together, and it can potentially kill a business district," he said. "It doesn't help the community."
Slifka said the township is now void of any massage establishments where police suspect lewd activity. Should another business open, he said, they will face the same scrutiny as those now closed.
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