Two women from downstate New York were arrested in Kenmore after a law enforcement raid uncovered what authorities describe as an illicit massage spa selling sex.
Kenmore Police are withholding the women’s identities as they continue to investigate whether “Candy Spa” was connected to a sex trafficking operation. Capt. A.J. Kiefer of the Kenmore Police told 2 On Your Side that the women are from the New York City area. Flushing, Queens, is widely recognized as the epicenter of the illicit massage trade in the U.S., according to law enforcement and news reports.
Inside the one-story commercial building on Delaware Avenue near Euclid Avenue, three women were living, Kiefer said. Experts in sex trafficking suggest that employees living at the business may indicate trafficking activity. Kiefer confirmed that police are looking into this possibility.
The police shut down the spa and issued a cease-and-desist order. Both women were charged with performing massages without a license, and one was additionally charged with prostitution.
This operation mirrors a similar investigation earlier this year. In April and May, police and federal agents raided four spas across Western New York, arresting five individuals on charges ranging from promoting prostitution to practicing massage therapy without a license, a felony in New York State.
The raids occurred in Lockport, Cheektowaga, Depew, and Amherst. On April 23, 2 On Your Side reported that the FBI and Niagara County sheriff deputies raided New Elegant Shiatsu Spa in Lockport. According to federal court filings, the spa was an “illicit massage business.”
Federal agents seized large amounts of cash and discovered containers with hidden compartments containing condoms, ledgers, and other evidence of commercial sex acts, as stated in court documents.
In the previously raided spas, 2 On Your Side found explicit and suggestive online ads, while surveillance showed a steady stream of men visiting each afternoon.
Research by the Polaris Project, an anti-human trafficking nonprofit, reveals that spas with an all-male clientele and locked doors requiring patrons to be buzzed in are common indicators of sex for sale.
The business model of these spas often includes advertising on websites similar to Yelp, but focused on illicit massage parlors. These sites feature images of young, scantily clad Asian women, playing into false cultural stereotypes of Asian women as docile and hyper-sexualized.
Dr. Yige Dong, an assistant professor in the UB Department of Sociology and Criminology, and the Department of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies, explained, “It’s actually our society as a whole which has a long history of stereotyping these women (and) creating the demand. The idea that Asian women are sex workers became blended into the mainstream culture here.”