Sex noises from San Diego massage parlor interrupt church services, lead to prostitution bust: repor
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Lurid sex noises echoing out of a San Diego massage parlor and into a nearby church reportedly spurred a police investigation that led to four arrests and a bust of the alleged brothel.
Cops said last week they fielded numerous complaints from businesses and residents perched near the Ocean Spa Massage Parlor — which ranged from reports about the aforementioned noises to locals seeing people have sex in cars, Fox News Digital reported.
The department’s vice unit began an “extensive and thorough investigation,” city police said, which involved more than 125 hours of work.
During that time, they documented at least four instances where employees offered cops sex, the outlet said. They also found nearly 1,300 online ads for sex at the parlor that were posted in the last five years.
Eventually, four people were busted for prostitution as the city took legal action to shut the shady business down.
The city attorney is also imposing more than $100,000 in civil penalties and reimbursement for legal costs, Fox said.
“The owners of Ocean Spa have been masquerading as a legitimate business for far too long,” city attorney Mara Elliott said in a press release.
“Ocean Spa is a sex shop – not a massage parlor – and it has no place in our community or anywhere else. We look forward to holding these perpetrators accountable and to restoring peace in this complex.”
City Police Chief David Nisleit added last week that his department “takes neighborhood complaints of this nature very seriously.”
“Our Vice Unit’s thorough investigation into the operation at businesses just like Ocean Spa brings peace and civility back to San Diego neighborhoods,” he wrote.
Parts of Southern California have struggled mightily with prostitution for many years, although some locals say a 2022 law that repealed a ban on loitering with the intent to engage in prostitution has exacerbated the problem.
Proponents said the repeal would protect women and transgender adults from being targeted by cops, Fox said.
“While I agree with the author’s intent, and I am signing this legislation, we must be cautious about its implementation,” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said when he signed it.
“My administration will monitor crime and prosecution trends for any possible unintended consequences and will act to mitigate any such impacts.”
But some business owners have argued it has emboldened prostitutes and their pimps.
“It’s always been pretty common with massage parlors to offer more than massages,” the business owner said. “But with [the new law] the whole industry is emboldened because they know nothing will happen.”
“The prostitution has steadily increased,” the entrepreneur continued.
“Pimps know they can flood the streets with more girls, and with the busiest boarder crossing here in San Diego, sex trafficking is out of control.”
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