City considers approval of opposite-sex massages

Jeffrey Libby

Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.

For the first time in the Las Vegas Valley, a traveling businessman in need of a massage from a woman could soon pick up the phone and order room service -- if he's staying at a hotel in Henderson.

The same would go for a businesswoman in need of a massage from a man.

According to a new law being considered by the Henderson City Council, a massage therapist could travel to a home or hotel room and perform a massage on person of the opposite sex.

In an unusual switch of roles, the new law, if approved, would leave Las Vegas and Clark County officials looking south for direction from their more conservative, smaller and less celebrated suburb. Mesquite and North Las Vegas would also be looking on.

That's because such "cross-gendered, outcall massage" is illegal in Las Vegas and elsewhere in the valley, in large part because Las Vegas Metro Police in the past have asked Las Vegas and Clark County officials to maintain strict controls. Metro vice detectives say that many outcall massage establishments operate as thinly veiled fronts for prostitution.

The massage industry, however, is hailing the proposed law as a long-overdue move that would help legitimize the profession and make it easier for customers to obtain therapeutic treatments.

Boulder City has allowed cross-gendered outcall massage from a storefront business since 1993.

Henderson Police also defend the proposed ordinance, saying it increases the department's ability to monitor legitimate massage therapists while doing nothing to create loopholes for illegal activity.

"If someone is going to have an illegal activity, they're not going to get a business license through us," Henderson Police Capt. Jutta Chambers said. "At the same time, we understand that there are a lot of legitimate massage therapists out there. To turn a blind eye to them would be unrealistic. We need to let them work within the law."

Under current Henderson laws, applicants for a massage therapist license must prove they have successfully completed 500 hours of study and obtained a degree, much like in Las Vegas and Clark County. No out-call service is allowed. But since about 1993, references to gender have been removed from regulations.

Under the proposed Henderson ordinance, massage therapists will have to complete 700 hours of study, pass a nationally certified test and obtain a work card from police. The work card requires the same background checks as a gaming or liquor license. Out-call service, with no limitations, will be allowed.

The proposed ordinance was introduced by the council Tuesday and would go into effect Aug. 23 if approved.

When Las Vegas and Clark County in the mid-1990s updated massage ordinances, in part to meet the needs of the massage industry, they allowed cross-gendered massages at licensed businesses. They also allowed same-gendered out-call massage. But they specifically prohibited cross-gendered, out-call massage in an effort to discourage prostitution.

"The (County) Commissioners saw outcall cross-gendered massage as very problematic," Ardel Jorgensen, director of Clark County business licensing, said. "They felt it would open the door to other kinds of activities that would not be appropriate."

Jim DiFiore, director of business licensing for City of Las Vegas, expressed similar concerns, calling Henderson's ordinance a "bold" move that he would watch closely.

But DiFiore and Jorgensen said neither municipality is considering changes to ordinances on the books now.

Lt. Terry Davis, of the Metro vice unit, said his recommendation today would be no different than in the mid-1990s.

"You're asking for more problems in regards to instances of prostitution when you allow cross-gendered outcall," Davis said.

David Lee, director of business licensing for Henderson, said the potential for illegal sexual activity is there in either case.

"Everyone worries about outcall cross-gendered massage, but even with same-sex massage you're never going to be 100 percent sure. There's always a few bad apples, but that shouldn't spoil the whole barrel," Lee said.

Statistics from Metro Police suggest that there are several "bad apples" in the outcall massage industry.

Sting operations during fiscal year 2000-2001 involving some of the 160 such licensed businesses in Las Vegas and Clark County resulted in 70 arrests for prostitution, according to records provided by police. Vice detectives were asked to pay for sex after contacting outcall massage establishments advertised in magazines, the phonebook over the Internet and elsewhere.

Those arrests represent an "infinitesimally small amount" of related prostitution that goes undetected, Sgt. Chris Darcy, a Metro Police spokesman, said.

In Henderson, there are just two massage establishments. Both opened within the last six months and neither can yet apply for outcall services. But in May, less than two months after Sunset Massage opened, a newly licensed massage therapist was arrested by Metro Police for prostitution.

Even so, Lee maintains that as a city, Henderson needs to accommodate legitimate massage businesses as it attracts wealthier residents and as it evolves into a resort destination.

Many of the more well-heeled visitors touch down at the Lake Las Vegas resort before making use of one of the resort's seven heliopads that allow quick transport to the Las Vegas Strip.

Rebeka Carpenter, director of the resort's hotel spa, originally asked the city about outcall service so that business groups in town for conventions could be better served.