Hundreds of ‘illegal’ massage parlors in Utah suspected of prostitution and organized crime

On November 10, 2024By Pranco

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Hundreds of “illegal” 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, said a subscription website identifies salons where “Johns” can post reviews about sexual encounters — and that the site lists 363 salons in the state.

“363 salons, we only have 29 counties. Holy crap,” said Rep. Ryan Wilcox, chairman of the Legislature’s Organized Crime Subcommittee. ‘This is no small matter. This is happening right under your nose.’

Spilker said 199 of the salons are “active,” including more than 40 in Salt Lake City alone.

“The employees are not technically listed as employees to the owners,” Spilker said. “They have no real data on who works for them. They are called contract workers, or they just use the space in the salons to conduct their business.”

He said that in one study, 23 people showed up at a salon in one day looking for sex.

The Johns often pay in cash, use cash apps or even cryptocurrency, according to Spilker.

“This problem has continued to get worse this year,” Wilcox said. “It seems to be increasing exponentially. As far as I was aware, we had five cases in my county earlier this summer, and in the last week and a half we had three more.”

Many of the massage workers come from Asia — and according to the Utah Division of Professional Licensing, or DOPL, Salt Lake County has more illegal massage businesses than Philadelphia or Denver Counties.

Now state regulators are proposing to set up a “registration of massage establishments” to crack down on the illegal businesses.

Owners/employers would be required to submit fingerprints and consent to background checks.

In addition, DOPL proposes to revoke business registrations and impose “heavy fines” for criminal behavior. It says 20 states already have similar licensing guidelines.

At the moment, even investigators’ raids on businesses do not lead to some salons going bankrupt.

“Once we serve our search warrants and thought we might have closed this (a salon) down, they’re open the next week,” Spilker said, “because all they do is turn it over to someone else, and they come back and get a new one business license, and they get right back to business.”

Other statistics estimate there are fewer illegal massage businesses in the state, with “150 storefronts identified,” according to a DOPL report to lawmakers. It cited data from a group called The Network, which researches human trafficking.

Jennifer Brunt, a nurse and certified massage therapist, says it is very important that the industry is perceived as clean.

Brunt has had a healing massage practice for 22 years and has written curricula to teach them in Utah.

She also had cases where clients came to appointments with expectations that went beyond just massage.

“As a legitimate massage therapist, that’s probably one of my most annoying things,” she said, “when someone comes in expecting or wanting something more than the massage I’m offering. I would have to end the massage.”

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