Taking a hard line on illicit "massage"

Worried that illicit massage parlors – which provide more than a relaxing rubdown – could make inroads in Bristol, city councilors said Tuesday they plan to push through a new law that would impose stiff regulation.
“We’re trying to limit the criminal element,” said Dale Clift, who was recently appointed as city attorney.
City officials privately pointed to activities that internet discussion boards claim are taking place at Star Spa Acupressure on North Street as one of the driving forces for cracking the whip now.
“We’ve got to do something before” more sex-oriented shops open in town, said city Councilor Mike Rimcoski.
Detective Sgt. Christopher Lennon said he proposed the legislation a year ago after a massive crackdown in Waterbury led him to worry that fake massage purveyors might try their luck in Bristol next.
He said his request wasn’t spurred by concern about any shops in Bristol, merely the possibility that some might move to town.
“It was mostly a preemptive issue,” Lennon said.
Nothing much happened on Lennon’s request until Ordinance Committee members took up the measure this spring.
Several city officials said they are aware of rumors of illicit activities taking place at the Star Spa, a shop that an online poster calling himself Sinergy69 said gave him “a rubdown that damn near knocked me out,” followed by significantly more.
He might find it a little harder to pay for less than therapeutic massage if councilors pushi through the statute they’re eyeing.
Clift said the key feature of the ordinance used in Waterbury was a requirement that massage parlors get a permit from the police, which includes fingerprinting employees and taking pictures to make sure they don’t have criminal backgrounds.
The provision makes it much easier to shut someplace down if a crime is committed, Clift said.
The ordinance doesn’t apply to massage therapists who are licensed by the state, medical offices and other clearly reputable establishments, officials said.
“We don’t want to criminalize massage therapy,” said city Councilor Craig Minor, who chairs the Ordinance Committee.
City Councilor Kevin McCauley said that just forcing people who want to open a massage parlor to apply to the police will scare many of them off.
An ordinance could be passed by mid-July.

*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Questionable spa gets a rise out of city officials

City officials are concerned that massage parlors of “the less legitimate kind” may be operating in Bristol.
City Councilor Craig Minor said there is at least one suspected problem parlor in town, but he didn’t name it.
“I’m not going to touch this,” said city Councilor Mike Rimcoski.
But a website called USASexGuide lists one questionable spa in town that drew high marks from several men who had apparently gotten a good bit more than a relaxing massage.
Posting last week, someone who posted under the name Sharkman67 said he went to the Bristol spa and got a massage that “went on for some time and I was afraid that there was not going to be a finish. I was wrong.”
“I was more than satisfied,” he reported, adding that he enjoys “the occasional massage with a happy ending.”
Someone posting under the name MrMike1952 claimed to have “visited the same spa in Bristol” that he had once before.
“I was hoping to see Mina, who did such an incredible job the first time. She was busy, so I went with Janie or Jeannie, I'm not sure of her name. She is younger and prettier, and she seems to have as much fun playing with you as Mina,” MrMike1952 said.
“She uses some of the same techniques, but her giggle at seeing how my body reacted to her touch sounded like she was really having fun. The only issue with her is that her English is virtually non-existent,” he continued.“I'm not going to go into so much detail this time, except to say that this girl was even better. Unbelievable. Great table shower. Very nice massage. And the best manual finish I have ever had,” he wrote.
“She has a fabulous knowledge of the male anatomy and a wonderful sensitivity to how you are reacting to what she does,” he said.
Another poster on the site said that he always gets “the same” for his $70 – apparently the same massage that MrMike1952 enjoyed.
Several phone calls to the spa were not answered Monday.
Before exploring the need for a new law to crack down on wayward massage parlors, members of the city’s Ordinance Committee said they would check to see if there’s already a provision in Bristol’s zoning rules governing appropriate massage.
There are no zoning regulations governing massage, Frank Johnson, chairman of the Zoning Commission, said Monday.
He expressed surprise that the issue arose.
“Isn’t that closing the barn door after the horse gets out?” Johnson asked.
Minor, who heads the ordinance panel, said the police could commit “a massive amount of overtime” to investigate the problem to see if criminal laws were violated.
But the ordinance panel may step in with a new statute to lend a hand.
The issue is among those on the panel’s agenda for its 6:30 p.m. meeting tonight at City Hall.
Johnson poked a little fun at the whole notion of cracking the whip on sketchy massage parlors.
“Every town is supposed to have one, for the benefit of the people in the next town over,” Johnson said.

*******
Copyright 2008
All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com