Helps municipalities close them down. Another bill imposes fine for soliciting prostitutes. Wisconsin State Capitol. Photo by Dave Reid. State Rep. Joe Sanfelippo , R-New Berlin, plans to reintroduce a bill in the next two weeks that will give local municipalities greater ability to close massage parlors they believe are breaking the law.
The move comes after the owner of a New Berlin massage parlor was charged with keeping a place of prostitution in February. New Berlin Police investigated Jing Zhang , 56, of Chicago, for three years, before having enough evidence to charge her.
Massage therapists are licensed by the state, which means the state is also the enforcement agency on massage parlors. So basically, they are exploiting and enslaving them. During the legislative session, Sanfelippo introduced a bill that would have given local municipalities the ability to pass an ordinance to allow their police departments to issue citations against massage parlors breaking the law. The bill gained support in the Assembly but did not make its way to the Senate before the session ended.
Police were surveilling the spa after suspecting human trafficking. Illicit massage businesses fronting for commercial sex operations have been part of the American landscape for decades, with an estimated 9, operating, according to a report by Polaris , a Washington, D. There is a second bill being circulated for sponsorship that would impose a new fine on anyone convicted of soliciting prostitutes.
The money would cover treatment and services for sex-trafficking victims as well as investigations of internet crimes against children.
