County crackdown targets unlicensed massage parlors - Houston ... - Chron.com

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By John D. Harden, Houston Chronicle

Updated 6:25 pm, Friday, January 27, 2017

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Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff


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Harris County filed a lawsuit last year accusing this massage parlor on Richmond Avenue of being a front for prostitution, but the facility remained open weeks later. (Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )

Harris County filed a lawsuit last year accusing this massage parlor on Richmond Avenue of being a front for prostitution, but the facility remained open weeks later. (Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )

Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff

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A foot massage sign shows this massage parlor on Richmond Avenue remains open in November 2016 after being sued by Harris County for being the front for prostitution. (Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )

A foot massage sign shows this massage parlor on Richmond Avenue remains open in November 2016 after being sued by Harris County for being the front for prostitution. (Yi-Chin Lee / Houston Chronicle )

Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff

County crackdown targets unlicensed massage parlors


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A massage parlor sits almost hidden among the hospitals and stores just off Fannin Street near the Texas Medical Center.

A small, almost unnoticeable sign out front of the Medical Center Spa is the only hint the business exists.

It seems innocent enough until online reviews and advertisements reveal there's a little more than it seems to the secluded, red-brick building.

Web listings promote erotic massages by young Asian woman and anonymous reviewers give uncensored descriptions of their sexual encounters. It's these kinds of illegal businesses Houston-region law enforcement has struggled to close for years.

On Friday however, Harris County attorney Vince Ryan announced plans for a project, dubbed "Project Awesome," designed to close such businesses operating without the licensing that Texas law requires of massage parlors.

The county's initiative, which will target more than 200 businesses identified as brothels, removes a few of the lengthy steps law enforcement officials often need to take to close businesses that promote prostitution. Attorneys will now go after the owners of the homes and strip malls harboring massage parlors known to promote prostitution.

"This is another effort to cut down on the human trafficking we see too often in Houston, especially in some of these unlicensed massage parlors," Ryan said. "By merely not having that license, we can shut them down."

The county is already building cases on at least 25 of the 200, said Julie Countiss, assistant county attorney. Officials said they have yet to notify the businesses, even though they publicly announced the names of those establishments.

The parlors will be notified by attorneys. If they are not shut down, the county will hit the businesses and property owners with lawsuits.

The effort is somewhat a change from the typical sting operations that lead to the arrests of women, who are often the victims. In 2015, about 54 percent more women were arrested for sex trafficking or prostitution than men, according to data obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

"Too often the people working in these establishments are the victims of sex trafficking," Ryan said. "Often they are underage, often they have no choice but to do this in the want to survive and they are rotated between location after location after location."

The project, a collaboration with Children At Risk and the lawyers from the Reed Smith law firm, is still in it's early stages.

Reed Smith will provide at least 20 lawyers to supplement the work being done by the county's attorney office to shut down the business by various means as public nuisances. Children At Risk is a nonprofit group that advocates for changes to improve the quality of life for children.

"These are proven places known for [prostitution and sex trafficking]," said Bob Sanborn, Children at Risk president and CEO. "We see reviews online, so we know what's happening."

Dan Harris, Houston Police Department vice captain, said targeted businesses were also identified with the use of undercover officers who say women agreed to perform sexual acts.

As Houston prepares for Super Bowl LI, all eyes have been on the city and its approach to address human trafficking and other social issues.

In a press conference two weeks ago, Houston's mayor and regional law-enforcement officials said they plan to increase resources to combat human trafficking in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.

The crime, which includes sex and labor trafficking, is a problem the city has dealt with "on a continuous, ongoing basis," Mayor Sylvester Turner said then.

Sanborn said the issue was a problem before Super Bowl and will continue after Feb. 5.

"What's important to understand is that this is not a Super Bowl effort, this is something that has to happen every day of the year because the demand exist every day of the year," he said. "There are more sexually oriented businesses in our town than there are Starbucks and we should be ashamed of that."


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