The businesses, which bill themselves as massage outlets but also offer commercial sex, according to law enforcement, have been an open secret in town for years, with their all-night neon "open" signs and covered windows. Law enforcement, prosecutors and advocates united during the state Legislature earlier in to educate lawmakers about the problem. While they celebrated the passage of two new laws cracking down on massage parlors and other forms of sex trafficking, some are calling for a broader approach.
And I think about them, and I think, 'Wow, why are they not doing everything they can to work with law enforcement to get those businesses shut down and out of their buildings? In California, the Sacramento City Council has proposed some form of crackdown on massage parlor landlords, although the proposal is still forming. In New York City, police have set their sights on landlords of massage parlors and brothels but have struggled to prove the extent of their complicity.
Polaris Project, a national nonprofit that runs a human trafficking hotline, has also called for greater scrutiny of the property owners. Most massage parlors rent, and don't own, their buildings. Local realtor Jerry Ray said the FBI used to visit his office, asking to see his rental agreements with Main Street Spa, formerly located in his two-story commercial complex at Main Street. They were all checks, no cash. Last May, Ray ended up evicting the spa. He said the manager, a local woman, had stopped paying rent and he'd come to suspect the business was offering commercial sex.
The lease with Ray was signed by Ok Hui Pomes, 60, who listed a home address in Flushing, New York, a hub of illicit massage businesses. But while the FBI has said the 13 massage parlors in Billings exploit their workers, often requiring them to forfeit half their earnings to the business owner, Ray said he wasn't worried about the business he'd rented to for roughly seven years. And that's expletive ," he said. Ray is one of several property owners in Billings who have leased commercial space to businesses listed on Rubmaps.
If a landlord has suspicions about the business they're renting to, Baucus said, they should talk to law enforcement and review early termination clauses in their leases. Parlors have lately come under increased scrutiny, in part after the high-profile bust of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is reported to have patronized one of the businesses in Florida in January.
