MASSAGE PARLORS....some may provide a Extra Service

RICHMOND, B.C.  by Frank Dawson

Some massage parlors in Richmond may be providing an extra service offering SEX.   The city of Richmond has put in place a tough bylaw to help control this problem.

   The bylaw requires that all doors to massage rooms be unlocked and also have a window in them. Also the girls must be fully clothed. Massage parlors in Richmond are only allowed to be open till 12 pm during the week and 1 am on weekend. This bylaw has been in place for a few years and has seen a number of massage services go out of business.

      Some of the massage parlors advertising under the heading of Massage Service in the yellow pages  are the ones that may offers extra services. Therapeutic massage parlors usually don't stay open late and offer only therapeutic services and list their service as Registered Therapists.

    The extra services massage parlors will typically charge you $35 for half hour and $50 for full hour. The person at the desk says nothing about extra service. The person doing the massage, always a female makes the pitch for the extra service and collects the money for the extra service. This is usually between $60 to something well over $100.
   
   Another thing I should mention is the fact that most massage parlors that stay open late have their doors locked, you have to ring to get in. Some have multiple surveillance cameras outside so they know who is coming or who is at the door.

   Richmond has done a good job reducing the number of massage parlors in the city. At one time there was over twenty now there could be as little as a half dozen that offer illegal services. There probably is more  legal therapeutic massage parlours than the illegal ones.

Richmond, BC: On December 07, 2006, five search warrants were executed at Richmond Massage Parlours for keeping a common bawdy house. A total of 53 people (18 men and 35 women) were arrested within the five businesses.

 

The following are the results of the searches:

    * GUN HOA - Four municipal ticket infractions were issued
    * JADE LAKE - One municipal bylaw ticket was issued at this location
    * SWAN LAKE SHIATSU - One bylaw infraction

Evidence has been obtained in this investigation to support allegations of sexual activity at all 5 establishments.

At this point there have been no victims of human trafficking found, however the investigation continues.

     A   LITTLE   HISTORY

Kingdom Massage and Accupressure Centre, 170-8351 Alexandra Rd., and Swan Lake Shiatsu, 1120-4651 Garden City Rd., were both inspected before. Swan Lake had its business licence suspended for December of 2001 by city council following a number of bylaw infractions.

On a visit in August of 2001, an RCMP member found that a massage room was locked during the massage, and as he was let into the room, the woman giving the massage appeared to be putting her clothes back on.

Kingdom Massage was shut down after it was found to be open after hours. Body rubs are required to discontinue services at midnight during the week, and at 1 a.m. on weekends.

Although police aren't identifying the names of all the massage parlours they targetted, they did release the observations they made without linking those details to specific businesses.

Investigators say there was "suspicious activity" at many massage parlours including:

* two men jumping into the same shower and two women entering the same washroom to get dressed; one woman had her short skirt askew and another put on her underwear inside-out;

* two women received fines for their attire, which did not comply with the dress codes under local bylaws;

* one business had a red light warning system in each room activated by a remote control device held by the owner;

* one business did not open its doors for three minutes after which one employee was found not wearing any sort of underwear;

* known gang associates were found at one business, including a known Vietnamese gang member that police were alerted could be "armed and dangerous."