Cassandra Hemenway and Phil Dodd
MONTPELIER — Two-and-a-half months after The Bridge first reported on the existence of two Montpelier massage parlors apparently offering sexual services, massage services appear to still be offered at both locations, although one shut down for a period of time and the other has a new name in the window. A new law likely to take effect Dec. 1 could make it harder to operate such businesses in Vermont.
The Hawaiian Spa on Langdon Street, which opened less than a year ago, was closed for several weeks after The Bridge story came out. The spa’s listing on Rubmaps.ch, a guide to massage parlors offering sexual services, notes that the business is “closed.” And it did appear closed in March and April. But lately the “open” sign in its window has been lit up, and women have been spotted inside.
Gabe Lajeunesse, a co-owner of the Langdon Street building where the Hawaiian Spa is located, said the owners’ attorney had sent a letter to Hawaiian Spa saying there had been allegations about their business and that “if they were doing something illegal, they should cease and desist.”
Lajeunesse, who is running for a Washington County Senate seat, said the lease on the building was likely multi-year, but for details he suggested calling Lucky Boardman, the other owner and the person who he said manages the property. Boardman did not return two phone messages left by The Bridge at his business, Vermont Rental Solutions.
A neighboring business owner told The Bridge earlier this year that only men had been seen entering the spa, and that it appeared people may be living there, which would be illegal under the city-issued zoning permit. On-line reviews, a Reddit thread, and an email to the former building owner all suggested that sexual acts were being offered to customers.
Meanwhile, the sign on Kang Yuan Body Work, at 384 River Street came down and a new sign for Olive Tree Wellness went up. This happened shortly after the story was published in March. The phone number for the two businesses is the same, as are the lights in the window.
The Bridge sent a paid investigator to Kang Yuan in March who said he was offered sexual services by the massage therapist, confirming reviews at Rubmaps dating back to 2015.
In February, Steve Ribolini, one of four partners who own the building, told The Bridge that Kang Yuan was not going to renew its lease. In a May 28 text to The Bridge, Ribolini said the owner of Kang Yuan had “retreated to her shop in Stowe” and a new tenant has moved in and is “trying to make a living honestly.”
Olive Tree Wellness is not listed with the Vermont Secretary of State, and it is also not listed on Rubmaps. Kang Yuan is still listed as an open facility at the same location on the Rubmaps website and on other adult websites, with the same telephone number as Olive Tree, but The Bridge has not confirmed that sexual services are still being offered there.
The building at 384 River Street is owned by “81 River Street Associates,” which the Vermont Secretary of State shows is a partnership of Mary Hood, Peter Hood, Alan Lendway, and Steve Ribolini. The Bridge has only communicated with Ribolini, who said he was in touch with the other partners about the situation.
Illicit massage parlors exist throughout Vermont and the U.S. and are usually run by Chinese organized crime syndicates that control and traffic the workers, often Korean or Chinese women, who provide massages and perform sex acts ranging from hand jobs to sexual intercourse, according to State Police Human Trafficking Coordinator Lt. Michael Studin.
Referring to prostitution, Studin told legislators earlier this year that “the women are performing a crime, but they are being forced to commit a crime.” They may work 10 hours a shift, seven days a week, and eat and live on the premises, Studin said, adding that he views them as victims.
Studin told The Bridge that efforts to shut down illicit massage parlors in Vermont under existing laws have been challenging. “When we are not getting significant outcomes, you have to weigh the benefit versus the time and effort involved,” he said
H.588 — a bill that, among other things, would regulate massage establishments — has just passed both the Vermont House and Senate and awaits Gov. Phil Scott’s signature. Vermont currently requires massage therapists to register with the state, but this bill would for the first time require massage establishments that have two or more massage therapists, bodyworkers, or touch professionals to register with the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR).
The bill states that the owner of a massage or bodywork establishment is “responsible for ensuring its lawful operation, regardless of whether the establishment’s owner is on-site or has personal knowledge of its operations. The office may prosecute an establishment for unprofessional conduct or unauthorized practice occurring at the establishment.”
The Office of Professional Regulation would be given the authority to deny registration to an establishment at a location where unprofessional conduct, including sexual conduct, has previously occurred, even if under different ownership or management. Under H.588, the state would be able to inspect massage establishments before or after registration.
Last winter, state officials testified in support of the bill and said that requiring registration would mean that the businesses could be prosecuted and ultimately closed for engaging in unprofessional conduct.
“We could also prosecute unregistered ‘massage’ businesses for unauthorized practice,” OPR chief investigator Michael Warren told legislators Feb. 11. “This is often much simpler to prove than human or sex trafficking, even when that is the underlying concern.”
Currently, the only people connected to illicit massage businesses the state can prosecute are the practitioners themselves, but “we are not interested in charging victims of human or sex trafficking,” Warren said.
Jennifer Colin, director of the Office of Professional Regulation, told The Bridge that H.588 does not have massage establishment registration kick in until Dec. 1 because the office needs time to set up a new credentialing system.
The Office of Professional Regulation already has a complaint system on its website, she said. Once the law regarding massage establishment registration is in effect, the office will screen and prioritize complaints it receives and assign investigators to look into those complaints, Colin said.
“Assuming that we will be getting complaints about massage establishments — and we already do — we will investigate them and take action where appropriate,” she said.
Illicit Massage Industry Skyrockets
The illicit massage industry in the U.S. has tripled in the last 15 years. A 2014 article in Vice magazine noted what was then considered a large uptick: “ … the number of parlors in the U.S. jumped to 4,790 in 2013, up from 4,197 in 2011,” the article states.
By 2018, the Polaris website reported “an estimated 9,000-plus of these businesses are operating in every state in the country, with earnings totaling nearly $2.5 billion a year across the industry.”
And a more recent report on The Network website noted, “As of 2023, we assess there are over 13,000 (illicit massage businesses) operating in all 50 states. As a whole, this national industry generates over $5 billion a year in illicit revenue.”
The article continues: “To be clear: the (illicit massage industry) is not random nor harmless. Traffickers are organized, coordinated, and terribly effective. Whether in big cities or small towns, they are enabling and profiting off the exploitation and trafficking of women all across the country.”
—C.H.
