Massage article mentions USAGuide, Happy Endings and us
[URL]http://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/more-than-massages-a-hidden-sex-industry-in-hampton-roads/article_7a982922-d3f7-5d63-9325-47d6f16f6cb1.html[/URL]
A woman cried in front of a Chesapeake judge this spring.
A Mandarin interpreter was whispering in her ear, translating as a prosecutor described her crime.
It happened at a massage parlor, in an ordinary strip mall, tucked between a hair salon and a mortgage broker.
XXXXXXXXXXX, 53, showed an undercover officer to a room. He undressed.
During the massage, she crossed a line, making it obvious something illegal was on the menu.
"Not today," the officer said, shaking his head.
She covered him up and finished the massage. It ended with her swatting his bottom and urging him to return.
He did.
To arrest her.
This story isn't for children.
It's about a type of business that's operating behind everyday storefronts, mostly in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach, next to dentists, restaurants and dollar stores. They're known as Asian massage parlors, and some sell more than massages.
It's impossible to know exactly how many of the parlors there are in South Hampton Roads. The same type of business license covers all massage establishments.
Nationwide, at least 4,790 erotic parlors were estimated to be operating in the USA, up 14 percent from two years earlier, according to a 2013 study from the Urban Institute, a social and economic policy think tank. Locally, patrons probably provide the best count. The Tidewater thread of an online forum called [URL]USAsexguide.info[/URL] indicates at least 40 Asian massage parlors have set up shop on the southside. Clients on another site – [URL]Rubmaps.com[/URL] – indicate 29 have provided some form of sex over the past nine months.
Usually, it appears, the service supplied is a "happy ending," meaning a masseuse uses her hands to bring a customer to climax.
Most of the women involved are from China or are of Chinese descent. Clients are diverse, judging by their online posts. Executives. Military. Truck drivers. Single. Married.
The customers on [URL]USAsexguide.info[/URL] refer to themselves as "mongers," short for "whoremongers. " Online, they swap stories from the hunt, rating businesses, services and women in graphic detail.
"Basically it's a game where they try to give as little as possible for as much payment as they can get and we try to get as much as we can out of it as well," reads one comment.
The thread for the Tidewater region, started in November 2010, has grown to 66 pages with nearly 1,000 posts. The men give each other negotiating advice and complain when a masseuse is too plump or doesn't dress nicely enough, or when a session ends with "a light billfold and a frown on my face. ".
Lingo is heavy with acronyms that take a glossary to decode. "TOFTT" means "take one for the team," in other words, taking a chance on a new place to see whether it offers a "HE," or happy ending. Oral sex is relatively uncommon. "FS" – full service, meaning intercourse – is rarer still.
The men debate tactics for hiding their exploits from wives and watching out for "Uncle LEO" – short for law enforcement officer.
Camaraderie is evident.
"Good luck," they frequently sign off. "Be safe out there. ".
XXXXXXXXXXX was among 14 women arrested on prostitution-related charges at six Chesapeake parlors in January – the biggest bust of its kind in recent local memory.
Chesapeake police Chief Kelvin Wright declined a request to be interviewed for this story. Police in Virginia Beach – where a separate massage parlor raid took place last year – also declined.
Still, the cases offer a rare look into an underground industry, a global web reaching into main streets across the country.
Hampton Roads is only one stop on a supply route that begins nearly 400 miles up the highway.
