Two women charged with felonies after illicit massage business busts - Kitsap Sun

[massage]

Andrew Binion Kitsap Sun

Published 8:12 PM EDT Jun 21, 2019


Two women arrested as part of an 18-month investigation into illicit massage businesses in Kitsap County were charged Friday with felonies in Kitsap County Superior Court for allegedly facilitating sex acts for money.

On Thursday, Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office detectives, joined by officers from multiple agencies, served search warrants on four massage businesses in Bremerton, Silverdale and Poulsbo.

Court documents for the women charged with felonies report investigators used Chinese translators to communicate with them.

The women, ages 51 and 57, were charged with second-degree promoting prostitution. Two other women, 54 and 61, were arrested for prostitution, a misdemeanor.

One of the agencies that participated was the Naval Criminal Investigative Services, or NCIS, due to the number of military, DOD employees and contractors suspected of paying for sex acts at the massage businesses, according to the Sheriff's Office. In the cases where women were charged with felonies, NCIS agents posed as customers.

During one undercover operation, while an agent was inside a business inquiring about prices, officers waiting outside watched as three men “associated with the military” drove up in separate cars and went inside as well, according to court documents. Officers recorded their license plate numbers and wrote they planned to follow up with them.

Sheriff’s Detective Lt. Jon VanGesen said the investigation is not complete, and it is targeting those who may occupy the upper levels of the businesses.

At one location, officers found about $12,000 in money orders, VanGesen said.

The businesses have been offering sex acts for money for years — not just in Kitsap County — and operate virtually in the open.

In December 2016, the Kitsap Sun published an investigation of illicit massage businesses in Kitsap County. While observing one location in Bremerton — which was not among the four targeted in Thursday’s bust — a man leaving the business said he had just exchanged money for a sex act, as he had a number of times before.

The investigation started after law enforcement received multiple complaints, including from neighboring businesses and residents. Also, a woman reported to investigators that her husband had frequented the illicit massage business.

“That was one of them,” VanGesen said.

In one instance, while an agent was inside a Bremerton massage business to inquire about prices, he stripped naked and a woman “began” to touch his genitals.

VanGesen said he could not disclose how the agents decline to be touched, as women engaged in prostitution can sometimes test if a man is a customer or an officer, but he said officers “shut down” the contact.

He said investigators consulted with prosecutors about how to conduct the stings and gather critical evidence without officers having actual contact with the women.

“We can accomplish that without putting these officers in those situations, most of the time, and I think they were able to do that in every one of these cases,” he said.

The locations where search warrants were issued were: H20 Massage, 9985 Silverdale Way Northwest, Suite 105, Silverdale; Orchid Spa, 3331 Kitsap Way, Bremerton; A New You Spa, 19735 10th Avenue Northeast, Suite S102, Poulsbo; and Undo Stress, 3105 Wheaton Way, Bremerton.

In addition to WestNet, sheriff’s office detectives and NCIS agents, the Poulsbo Police Department, the state Department of Corrections, Washington State Patrol, the FBI and the Bremerton Police Department participated in the investigation and arrests.

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