STAFFORD — County leaders in Stafford say there’s a loophole within Virginia State Code allows massage parlors to perform sex acts such as masturbation to paying customers known as a “happy ending” massages.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance making it illegal for massage parlors from performing these acts.
“We have a growing prostitution problem in Stafford County it’s a quality of life issue,” Commonwealth Attorney Eric Olsen said.
Recently, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office noticed an uptick in these acts in massage parlors. According to Public Information Officer, Amanda Vicinanzo, “the information came from residents and websites that “promote massage parlors offering these activities.”
A website that reviews and provides information on “happy ending” massage parlors identified at least 11 massage parlors, mainly at strip shopping malls in North Stafford.
“We’ve identified about a dozen massage parlors in the county that may be offering certain sexual acts for money, specifically, masturbatory services,” Vicinanzo said.
According to Stafford attorney Jason Pelt, the massage parlors would not be able to sue Stafford County over the ordinance and would have to move their businesses to Fredericksburg in order to keep the prostitution acts going.
State law makes it illegal for someone to offer money in exchange for sex or oral sex but does not mention masturbation.
According to Vicinanzo, it’s difficult to know exactly how often these acts occurred because, technically, no crimes were happening. The sheriff’s office declined to identify establishments that were offering the services no banned by the ordinance.
The ordinance must follow Virginia Code not making the punishment any greater than a class 1 misdemeanor. The charge would be considered “to solicit prostitution and offer prostitution services.”
The Commonwealth Attorney’s office originally requested the adoption of a local ordinance which was passed onto the Public Safety Committee.
The Public Saftey Committee is made up of three supervisors, Tom Coen (George Washington), Jack Cavalier (Griffis-Widewater), and Gary Snellings (Hartwood).
The Public Saftey Committee then referred it to the Board of Supervisors.
In 2004, Spotsylvania County Sherriff’s Office ran a campaign to root out prostitution in massage parlors. They sent police officers undercover to receive these services to prove the businesses were getting too close to their customers.
None of Stafford’s other surrounding municipalities to include Prince William, Fredericksburg, and Spotsylvania have passed an ordinance like this.
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