'Pittsburgh massage parlors'
estimates there are at least 15 of these in Pittsburgh, set up as Asian massage parlors. There are at least 7 other brothels in the remainder of Allegheny County. Not all Asian massage parlors are fronts; some are legitimate businesses, some may simply be fronts for prostitution, with women working voluntarily, and some are suspected to be part of larger human trafficking operations.
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Orsini is also a member of the Southwest Pennsylvania Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition. It’s a group of law enforcement officials, religious groups, non-profits and citizens who work to combat sex trafficking. For law enforcement, it’s not an easy job. Often, when a so-called illicit massage parlor is taken down, or prostitution arrests are made, it’s not recognized for what it really is.
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A Pittsburgh city ordinance that would have cracked down on illicit massage parlors died last year when it was never voted on in committee. The main sponsor of the bill has left office. Recent efforts to get state laws passed to crack down or strengthen penalties have not fared much better. They have all been tabled or killed. But it’s an issue that everyone should be aware of.
See the full article from “Essential Public Radio”
April 26th, 2012
The return of Alexander Radulov could give the Preds the boost they need to beat this mini-slump they’re in. Pekka Rinne is having a pretty mediocre stretch of hockey, and the Preds don’t have the offense to combat poor goaltending. After one of the worst outings of the year, Rinne is due to bounce back. Riding the emotional high that Radulov could bring the Preds, they might be able to take out the Penguins. Mostly, I just don’t like that extra emotional variable and don’t see a value in betting on the Penguins.
Betting on the Penguins here is like going to an Asian massage parlor on a Tuesday afternoon when your regular hands are unavailable. You’ll either get the expensive finish that you’re used to when you go later in the evening (that’s the -180 line), or you’ll leave very disappointed after spending more money than this mediocre massage is worth. To me, it’s just not worth the risk of betting such a high line with a talented Predators team riding an emotional high. What’s more, if anyone can cool off the Penguins it’s Pekka Rinne.
See the full article from “The Faster Times”
March 22nd, 2012
Arrests for prostitution in Moon have steadily increased since the 2008 raids of three township brothels fronting as massage parlors. McCarthy said 53 were charged with prostitution offenses in 2010. In 2004, just one person in Moon was arrested for the crime.
McCarthy said escorts and prostitutes target Moon for its proximity to the Pittsburgh International Airport and the more than a dozen hotels in the township.
“I’m hoping that this year the number [of prostitution arrests] will be dramatically lower,” McCarthy said. “We’re sending the message that this activity is not going to be allowed in our community.”
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Moon Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2008 raided and closed the Sport Spa and the Pine Tree Spa, two University Boulevard massage parlors functioning as brothels. An unnamed brothel on Carnot Road also was closed in the raids. Click the media in this article for images of the buildings.
See the full article from “Patch.com”
February 15th, 2012
A former employee of a Peters Township massage parlor accused of making unsolicited contact with the genitals of two undercover detectives was admitted to the first-time offenders program Dec. 14 on charges of prostitution and indecent assault.
Jianhua “LiLi” Li, 47, of Philadelphia, previously of Flushing, N.Y., was admitted to the 12-month Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program by Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky.
She was arrested July 29 alongside Shi Mei Ma, 45, of Aspinwall, owner of Golden Phoenix Chinese Massage in Ace Plaza on Route 19, by Washington County Chief Detective Michael Aaron.
On July 12, the district attorney’s office received a complaint from a neighboring business owner of suspect activity at the massage parlor.
Outgoing Washington County District Attorney Steven Toprani said an undercover detective was sent in to establish probable cause.
See the full article from “McMurray Almanac”
December 21st, 2011
A tip from another business in the area led to the arrest Thursday afternoon of two women reportedly working at a massage parlor on Route 19 in Peters Township.
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“I have to credit them for contacting us,” he added. “This is not a location that was on our radar.” After checking with the state’s Department of Fictitious Name registry, it was determined that Ma was the owner of the business. On July 19 and 26, a detective went into the massage parlor and hired Li for an hour massage. On both occasions, the detective said Li made unsolicited contact with his genitals. He also paid her with money that has an invisible ultraviolet staining solution. He had two additional massages with Li and one on July 27 with “Marsha,” who also had touched his genitals. While Ma appears to be in this country legally, Toprani said investigators will determine the status of the other two women. His office was assisted by the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “We are s …
See the full article from “McMurray Almanac”
July 29th, 2011
Student Activist Fights to End Sex Trafficking in Massage Parlors
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Dickinson Goodman: Today, there are 5000+ brothels posing as massage parlors nationwide. For the women who are trafficked in them, they are prisons. These massage parlors often use the same price structures, recruiting practices and control-mechanisms. Because traffickers don’t report the names and social security numbers of the women they harm, it is impossible to know how many of the women in massage parlors which sell sex are being trafficked. But even one slave is too many in 2011.
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Dickinson Goodman: A friend who interned with Free the Slaves, Ismail Smith-Wade-El, and I got together this semester to figure out how many massage parlors sold sex in Pittsburgh. We both knew this issue mattered and had the time and skills to do something about it. We used popular johns boards and other websites for men who buy sex, and made a Google Map with pins for every massage parlor we found, linking to our evidence. O …
See the full article from “Change.org (blog)”
May 27th, 2011
How to End Sex Trafficking in Massage Parlors in Your Community
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1) Investigate. Read through the johns’ boards; see how many massage parlors are in your area. Making a map helps; ours was color-coded by city council district to make it easy for people to see how close these places are to our homes and schools. Be warned: these boards can be extremely graphic and disturbing.
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3) Instigate. Start drumming up community support. Ask to talk for 15 minutes at the ends of college clubs’ meetings, present to church groups and contact local fraternal organizations. Ask local massage therapists if they know where illegitimate establishments are located; because johns sometimes confuse good businesses with places to buy sex, some massage therapists have been sexually harassed by them. These places are deeply embedded in our communities — in Pittsburgh, not one of the 15 brothels posing as massage parlors is more than a few blocks from a church, synagogue or mosque. It is an issue on everyone’s plate, whether we know it or not.
See the full article from “Change.org (blog)”
May 27th, 2011
Support Stronger Regulation of Massage Parlors in Pittsburgh
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When is a massage parlor not just a place to get a peppermint-scented scrub? According to the Polaris Project, when the business uses “force, fraud, and/or coercion to maintain control over women.” And unfortunately, this isn’t a rarity. The victims of massage parlors are primarily Asian women, both documented and undocumented. These businesses claim to offer legitimate services, but instead force women to have sex with 6 to 10 men a day, 7 days a week. It is estimated that there are more than 5,000 brothels disguised as massage parlors in the United States.
Pittsburgh is no exception. Pennsylvania made over 200 calls to the national human trafficking hotline in 2010 and Pittsburgh had the second highest number of calls. Shields’ bill would require annual licensing of massage parlors and their employees. It would also require businesses to keep records of each massage. For those worried the bill could potentially hurt legitimate businesses — it exempts doctors, physical therapists and anyone who is licensed to perform massage in Pennsylvania.
See the full article from “Change.org (blog)”
May 18th, 2011
Bill will license massage parlors in city
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Joined by residents already working to stamp out sex trafficking, two Pittsburgh City Council members Monday unveiled legislation to eradicate massage parlors that they say force women into prostitution.
The legislation, sponsored by Doug Shields and Natalia Rudiak, would require annual licensing of the massage parlors. Applicants would have to provide character references and detailed information about their owners, including photographs and fingerprints.
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Jessica Dickinson Goodman, a Carnegie Mellon University student, has helped to identify 15 massage parlors in the city and seven in the suburbs that she believes are fronts for brothels that may be employing sex slaves. Her findings are based largely on customers’ graphic Internet postings about the business and their employees.
See the full article from “Pittsburgh Post Gazette”
April 19th, 2011
Pittsburgh councilman targeting massage parlors with licensing bill to prevent sex trafficking
Pittsburgh councilman targeting massage parlors with licensing bill to prevent sex trafficking
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A Pittsburgh city councilman wants to license massage parlors and their employees, and have the businesses keep lists of their customers, in an effort to prevent human trafficking in sex workers.
“It is going on under our noses right now,” Councilman Doug Shields, a Democrat, said Monday at a news conference announcing the bill he intends to introduce Tuesday. “It’s a horrible story. It’s one that needs a response. And it needs the cooperation of everybody.”
If enacted, the ordinance would require businesses to keep records of each massage, which would help ensure the businesses aren’t selling sex or employing people who are forced into sex work by, Shields said. It also would protect employees from prosecution if it’s determined they were coerced into sex work.
See the full article from “CanadianBusiness.com”
April 18th, 2011
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