A stunning development across the pond!  Read more at The Telegraph…

Brothels and prostitutes to be banned from advertising
By Heidi Blake

Massage parlours and escort agencies will be banned from advertising their services in newspapers under Government plans to stifle the sex industry.

Publications carrying advertisements for prostitution could be fined £10,000 under the new law, which will be put forward in Labour’s election manifesto.

The assault on the sex industry is being led Harriet Harman, the women’s minister, and Vera Baird, the solicitor general, amid concerns that many of the advertisements are offering women who have been forced into prostitution by criminal gangs.

A request by the Newspaper Society to remove the adverts in 2008 has had only partial success, with many publications continuing to print them.

The Crown Prosecution Service has already studied a similar law in Ireland and concluded that it could work in the UK.

Mrs Baird said: “It is now appropriate to move against people who make money from advertising prostitutes. The Newspaper Society tightened its guidance on taking such ads but there is still a market that we now have to look to legislation to disrupt.”

A survey of London’s sex industry commissioned in 2008 by Poppy Project, a government-funded group that helps trafficked women, estimated that the 921 brothels it examined made at least £86m a year through their newspaper advertisements alone.

The new law would set clear guidelines about which advertisements will be banned by defining the difference between brothels masquerading as massage parlours and spas offering therapeutic massages.

Advertisements for sex phone lines, carried in many tabloid newspapers, would not fall under the law unless they were a front for arranging prostitution.

It would also become a criminal offence to print cards advertising prostitutes for distribution in telephone boxes and shop windows. Under the current law, it is only an offence to be caught in the act of posting such a card.

Read more at The Union Leader…

Police make arrest in alleged prostitution ring
By KATHRYN MARCHOCKI

They called themselves “Sweet Asian girls” and promised “body relaxation sessions.”

But police allege they were really part of a prostitution ring being run out of a Seabrook apartment complex.

So far, police have arrested one former New York City woman of Chinese descent, a police prosecutor said yesterday, and they are looking for other women who had been set up in the apartment and the person who leased the unit.

“We would like to find out who leased the apartment, who brought the women there and the other women involved prior to this woman,” Detective Scott T. Mendes said.

Police also are investigating whether another woman, who was arrested with an alleged client Wednesday, may have been the victim of human trafficking and have contacted the FBI, said Mendes, who also is the police prosecutor.

The matter came to police attention Jan. 6 when they received complaints from neighbors about a stream of men coming and going from the apartment in the Tudor Crest complex. The men would stay a short time, then leave, police said.

Read more at 2News.tv…

Four arrested for prostitution at massage parlors

Four women have been charged with prostitution at several Treasure Valley massage parlors.

Boise Police say the four women were arrested at various different Boise massage parlors on Wednesday.

Charges against the suspects include prostitution, giving a massage without a city license, and violating city sanitary requirements by living or allowing employees to live and sleep inside the massage parlor.

“We have gotten a couple of complaints, anonymous complaints, from people who have been inside and they say suspected inside prostitution was happening,” said Sgt. Mike Harrington with the Boise Police.

Boise Police began getting citizen complaints several weeks ago alleging criminal activity including prostitution occurring inside several local massage parlors. Those tips led to a undercover investigation where Harrington says four undercover officers: “Go in there pay for a massage and then they eventually wait to get solicited for additional money for additional acts and those acts would include acts of prostitution.”

Read more at NBC26.com…

Arrests Made in Massage Parlor Sting Operation

A month long investigation has uncovered a prostitution ring at three message parlors in two counties in Northeast Wisconsin. Investigators tell NBC26 Four law enforcement agencies worked together to bust the operation.

Four people have been arrested in connection with the prostitution ring. The Beijing Massage in Ashwaubenon was closed with two people seen being taken away.

The doors are locked at the Eastern Massage Parlor in the Town of Buchanan and in Appleton, the Hong Kong Massage is closed for business. Pat Dewall with the Appleton Police Department says arrests were made. “We were investigating a report of prostitution that was occurring and the search warrant and subsequent arrests were the results of that investigation.”

According to investigators, the parlors look legitimate. But a quick check on the web suggests something much more. Erotic overtones and even reviews, with prices ranging from 70 to 100 dollars, for ‘VIP’ service.

Read more at lowhud.com…

Two charged with prostiution at White Plains massage parlor
By Richard Liebson

Two Queens women were arrested Saturday evening after they allegedly offered sex for cash to undercover White Plains cops.

Police investigating the center posed as customers shortly after 6 p.m. and arrested the women after they allegedly offered to perform sex acts for money, police said.

Read more at The New Haven Independent…

This Time, Craigslist Helped The Cops

A recurring nemesis — the online sex ad — has also proved one of the police’s best tools in cracking down on prostitutes.

So revealed Branford police after they closed down an alleged prostitution ring this week. Police said the alleged operation, at Marlow’s Health Studio, operated out of a second-story set of stores at a Branford strip mall.

Based on tips from citizens and a bold advertisement last month on an adult services page of the New Haven area’s “adult services” section of Craigslist, Branford police conducted a major investigation into Marlow’s. Fourteen police officers conducted two simultaneous raids, one in Branford, one in Ansonia, which led to six arrests, including of the alleged co-owner and the manager of the place.

Marlow’s operated in full view at a local mall off Exit 55 of I-95, the police charge. Police closed down the place, which they describe as a full-scale prostitution ring. Lt. Geoffrey Morgan said police carried out the Marlow’s sign that hung in the window, the massage tables and most importantly the client lists and other business records Wednesday night. It is now closed.

Over the last 30 years the place had been known as Marlow’s. Police said it is unclear when it actually became a house of prostitution operating openly above a nail and hair place and steps away from a dog grooming business and a Chinese restaurant. It has been known to be a massage studio and a health club. Police believe ownership changed hands some months ago.

Read more at The Las Vegas Sun…

Henderson postpones vote on toughening law on massage parlors
Number of licenses would increase because more would need them
By Sam Skolnik

The Henderson City Council on Tuesday postponed action on a proposed ordinance clamping down on massage parlors. Without comment, the vote was moved to early next year, probably in January or February.

The ordinance is an effort to combat illegal activities in massage parlors and “reflexology” establishments, which are supposed to offer a type of “pressure point” massage to the hands and feet.

Both types of establishments throughout the valley have often served as fronts for prostitution. Henderson would like to at least try to put a stop to that.

The ordinance — aiming to be “responsive to community concerns” — would restrict the hours the parlors may operate to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. It also would forbid the use of tinted glass on the establishments’ exterior windows, and mandate that the front and back doors remain unlocked during business hours. The ordinance would also prohibit “false or deceptive advertising” about the businesses.

The changes would mean massage businesses in Henderson would be more tightly regulated than those in Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County.

Watch the hands!  Read the whole story at The Star-Tribune…

Court says Minneapolis officer went too far in fondling during prostitution sting
He could have gotten evidence without sexual contact, Appeals Court rules.
By ROCHELLE OLSON

An undercover Minneapolis police officer engaged in outrageous conduct when he fondled a masseuse who was the target of a prostitution investigation, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday in a decision that could open the door for criminal defendants in other sting investigations.

The police officer violated the masseuse’s right to due process when he initiated the sexual contact with her and allowed it to escalate, Judge Wilhelmina Wright wrote in a decision for a three-judge panel that also included Judges Terri Stoneburner and Larry Stauber.

The masseuse was appealing her conviction in a lower court. Her attorney said he believes the decision marks the first time an appellate court in the United States has ruled that an officer’s sexual conduct in a prostitution sting violated due process.

The ruling said that the officer went to Peaceful Image Tanning and Bodyworks in 2008 after receiving a tip about prostitution. He met the woman, arranged a one-hour massage for $70 and then took off his clothes in a massage room. When the masseuse entered the room, she offered to perform the massage topless for an extra $30 and the officer accepted.

After a while, the masseuse asked the officer to turn onto his back, and he asked if he could touch her breasts, the court said. She put oil on her hands and rubbed his genitals. He asked if the “release” was included in the $100 fee and she said yes.

Read more at The Orange County Register…

Massage parlor ordered to close
Lake Forest Bodycentre violated state and local laws, officials said.
By ERIKA I. RITCHIE

A Superior Court judge agreed with the city of Lake Forest to shut down a day spa, saying that it has a history of providing sex for pay, is a public nuisance and has violated city code and state laws, officials said today.

The judge also found that the way ownership changed were shams. Ownership of the spa was transferred several times within the family. The judge said he does not recognize them as valid changes in ownership

City officials today call their win in this lawsuit against Lake Forest Bodycentre significant and say it bodes well for the city’s current efforts to clear out medical marijuana dispensaries now operating illegally in the city.

“This case is significant for the city on several levels,” said Jeffrey Dunn, a partner with Best, Best & Krieger who led the litigation. “The judge’s ruling underscores the city’s right and obligation to close businesses that are in violation of the law, create a public nuisance or are prohibited by the city’s municipal code. Whether it’s illegal drug distribution or a sex-for-pay business they are subject to court order to close as they create a public nuisance.”

Read more at The Denver Channel…

Massage Parlors Shut Down In Prostitution Sting
Police Make 15 Arrests During 3-Day Sweep
by Jaclyn Allen

The sign on the door of Everyday Spa reads “Open 7 Days A Week,” but on Sunday the lights are out, the doors are locked and the neon phone number leads to a message saying the person is not accepting calls.

During a prostitution sting Saturday night, Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said officers shut down the parlor, which is a half-block away from the 16th Street Mall, because it was offering more than massages.

The action is part of a nationwide, FBI-led sting targeting child prostitution, but Denver police say if they came across any adult prostitution, they made arrests.

In another massage parlor, Lilly Day Spa, police arrived Sunday to investigate a reported burglary. The landlord thought his tenant, who runs a massage parlor, had been robbed because the place was ransacked. He soon learned officers had issued a search warrant Saturday night and shut that parlor down, as well.

Inside Lily Day Spa are business cards for the Everyday Spa, and neighbors say they believe the same woman operates both.