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Brunswick City Council is cracking down on massage parlors

Posted at 6:58 AM, Sep 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-25 06:58:00-04

Monday is the final day Brunswick City Council will vote on a proposed piece of legislation intended to regulate the operation of massage parlors within the city limits.

This follows a police department undercover operation in December 2016, that resulted in the arrest of two employees of Relax Massage Spa, 3321 Center Road.

Those women were Yan Wang, 38, of Brunswick and Yang Gao, 43, of Pico Rivera, CA.

But their manager, who only wants to be referred to as Tony, is speaking out exclusively to News 5, saying the women didn’t break any laws.

"I have seen the police [get] them, but, it's the competition that sent the wrong information to the police,” he said, denying any lines being crossed.

But that's not what police say happened after undercover officers arrested the two women for suspected prostitution at Tony's massage facility.

Because there was no municipal law governing massage parlors, the women could only be charged with disorderly conduct.

But now that could be changing, as the city council wants to make sure rules are well-defined for all parlors in Brunswick.

“Until this one incident that we just discussed occurred, it wasn't a problem. So in essence, laws are created to solve problems to protect the public," said Kenneth Fisher, the Law Director for the City of Brunswick.

If it passes, there is specific language in the proposed ordinance to require local licenses for every parlor, limits on hours of operation and that it makes any sexual or perceived sexual contact against the law.

The city plans to take the final vote on the ordinance tonight at 7 at the council meeting.