Investigation deemed ‘model’

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

It has taken a year, but taking the time to conduct a thorough investigation into the operation of Warren’s massage parlors has been called a “model” of how to address that type of prostitution, Warren Law Director Greg Hicks said.

“The guys are saying you’ve set up the model of how to do this,” Hicks said Monday, referring to comments coming from agents with agencies they’ve worked with over the past week, such as federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“That’s a nice compliment to the attorney general’s office in conjunction with the Warren Police Department,” Hicks said.

“I’m not saying we’ve succeeded, but we’re doing a little bit better than just writing up citations,” Hicks said of the more common way of addressing allegations of prostitution at massage parlors.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office and Warren police conducted raids at eight of the city’s 10 massage parlors May 30, finding physical evidence they say backs up the evidence of prostitution obtained in interviews with customers and former employees.

The city followed that up last week with a request for a temporary restraining order that was granted by a judge to board up the eight parlors on the basis that the purported prostitution qualified the parlors as a public nuisance.

Frequently, cities keep a close eye on such businesses and cite them for health violations or go undercover to catch them committing crimes, Hicks said.

But those efforts don’t stop to illegal activity because the operators argue that the acts are isolated, Hicks said.

Hicks said city officials went to each of the eight parlors Friday after a judge approved the temporary restraining order against the parlors and secured them with signs indicating that they are not be entered — and in some cases boards to keep anyone from entering.

At the Sun Spa on West Market Street, three or four employees were ordered to leave so the business could be boarded up, Hicks said.

In two other cases, the business was boarded up, but separate living quarters housing employees were left alone, Hicks said. In two other cases, there were no housing issues, and the shop was boarded up to prevent anyone from entering.

In three other cases, officials attempted to gain access to the buildings to board them up, but no one answered the door, so they were marked as shut down but no boards were used for fear that someone could be trapped inside, Hicks said.

Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court will have a hearing at 9 a.m. Monday to determine whether the restraining order should be extended.