Back in Business? Local Massage Parlor Accused of Offering Sex for a Fee Runs Grand Opening Ad

Asian Body Work at 34 Riverside Avenue in Medford Square. Photo courtesy Medford Police.

– Allison Goldsberry

A local massage parlor in which an employee was accused of offering sex for a fee appears to once again be open, according to witnesses and an online advertisement.

In July Asian Body Work was busted by Medford Police following undercover investigations that revealed alleged offers of sexual conduct for a fee at two separate massage parlors.

At least one person saw an individual leave the 34 Riverside Avenue location of Asian Body Work in recent days, and an online ad refers to a grand opening. Two phone calls made to the number in the ad on two separate days during the listed hours of operation went straight to voice mail.

Medford Police said they are looking into the situation.

While the apparent re-opening of Asian Body Work is not necessarily illegal, it does raise some questions. In 2012, two separate massage parlors in Medford shut down after employees were arrested for allegedly offering sex for a fee. In July Medford Police Captain Kevin Faller said he hoped both Asian Body Work and Min Body Work, the other establishment in which an employee was arrested, would “pack up and leave” the city.

Asian Body Work is not listed as having a massage license according to the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure. However, according to a Boston Herald article, the Division of Professional Licensure’s jurisdiction doesn’t include places offering “Asian body work” and other similar services.

That legal loophole makes it difficult for police to track massage parlors that might be engaged in illegal activities, and for communities to prevent the establishments from moving into town in the first place.

“I really do wish the City Council would hurry up and pass legislation to zone this type of business straight out of town,” said Medford resident Margaret Weigel. “I can get them copies of successful language from other towns, and they can cut and paste, it shouldn’t take any time at all. We shouldn’t be spending valuable police man hours to once again bust this business.”