Hillsborough to regulate massage parlors in crackdown on prostitution - Tampa Bay Times (blog)

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TAMPA – Hillsborough County has followed the city of Tampa in cracking down on illicit services like prostitution being offered in massage parlors and bathhouses.

County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to adopt a law to regulate massage and bathhouse businesses, a move they said would help combat human trafficking.

Under the new law, the businesses need a permit to operate. They must background-check all employees and keep a record of all customers for up to two years.

Workers who give massages or baths must wear scrubs or similar modest medical uniforms and the businesses cannot operate between midnight and 5 a.m.

Bathhouses will be prohibited from having individual cubicles or areas set aside for private massages or baths. The genitals of customers must be covered by towels or bathing wear when in the presence of a masseuse.

The law also places a responsibility on workers to report any unlawful activity and for landlords to ensure the businesses they lease to have proper permits.

"It's really going to protect our citizens," said Commission Chairman Sandy Murman. "A lot of activity of human trafficking comes from these bathhouses."

Tampa passed a similar ordinance in January after the citizens group Clean Up Kennedy lobbied for a crackdown on a cluster of massage parlors they said were creating a blight along Kennedy Boulevard in West Tampa.

Hillsborough's ordinance will be enforced by the county's code enforcement department and focuses on penalties for owners and landlords rather than seeking to arrest workers, said Assistant County Attorney Paul Johnston.

That will help potential victims of human trafficking, he said. The Human Trafficking Resource Center ranked Florida, the third most-populous state, at No. 2 for human trafficking activity.

"You got a woman who was conned into coming here," Johnston said. "She doesn't speak the language and she gets charged with a crime for doing what her bosses told her to."

Code enforcement can levy fines of up to $1,000 per violation for each day it continues.

No members of the public spoke for or against the new law, which will take effect after it is transmitted to the state and after the county sets permit fees to cover the cost of enforcement.

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