Coeur d'Alene revokes five business licenses over alleged illegal sexual activity - Coeur d'Alene Press

[KAYE THORNBRUGH]

COEUR d’ALENE — The city of Coeur d’Alene has revoked the business licenses of five massage facilities, citing allegations of illegal sexual activity, though no criminal charges have been filed.

The Coeur d’Alene Police department announced Wednesday afternoon that the business licenses of Oriental Massage Spa, Red Sea Massage, Oriental Body Work, Asia Massage and Chinese Massage were revoked earlier in the day.

Police said detectives began investigating the facilities after receiving reports of “unwanted sexual touching.”

Investigators are concerned that some employees of the massage businesses may be victims of sex trafficking, according to police.

“Due to the nature of these crimes, prosecution in these cases is challenging and criminal charges were declined by local prosecutors,” police said in a news release. “However, the nature and volume of the allegations was compelling enough for the city to revoke the business licenses at these establishments.”

Ryan Hunter, chief deputy city attorney for Coeur d’Alene, said his office has charging discretion for misdemeanor offenses that occur within city limits. In this case, his office considered two misdemeanor offenses relevant to the matter: solicitation of commercial sexual activity and providing commercial sexual activity.

All other charges associated with the conduct described by police, including human sex trafficking, are felony offenses and fall under the purview of the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Stan Mortensen told The Press via text that no charges had been submitted to his office as of Wednesday afternoon.

City prosecutors determined that the available misdemeanor charges apply only to individual clients and masseuses directly participating in commercial sexual conduct, not to the owners and operators of the massage facilities. Instead, Hunter said, the owners and operators would be subject to felony charges.

If any of the involved masseuses are determined to be victims of human sex trafficking, Hunter said they would have an affirmative defense to prosecution for the misdemeanor offense of providing commercial sexual activity.

“We have not yet made a charging decision as to the individuals in either of those groups,” Hunter said.

Coeur d’Alene police urged anyone with information about sexual activity at any of the five establishments to contact Detective Newbill at 208-416-5117.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual abuse, call Safe Passage Violence Prevention Center’s 24-hour helpline: 208-664-9303.