Posted on 07/05/2003 4:05:06 AM PDT by Lorenb420
I only go by what I read, no personal experience, but I think that while this may be true of an "escort" (someone to have hang on your arm, dine with you, keep you company, show you around, show you a good time, etc.), a "prostitute" will negotiate the price for certain acts ahead of time (negotiate for the amount of time together and then so much money for each sex act). This includes massage parlors (different prices depending on what exactly is massaged).
I've heard that the MO legislature has gone after massage parlors and "private" or "sensual" massages. I believe that in the state of MO, in order to advertise or give a "massage," you must be a licensed massage therapist (licensed by the state, much like a barber or hair stylist). It's actually illegal to give a "massage" if you're not licensed. To get around that, many "enterprising ladies" had taken the term "body rub" to do what you posted about. I've heard that the MO legislature actually passed a law classifing "body rubs" as massages, and are going after the "ladies" that way now.
Still, if a man and a woman (who is of age, of course) negotiate "time" together, then go to his or her place, if it's in the privacy of one of their homes, I can't possibly see how what they do is illegal, given the recent SCOTUS ruling... The best that could be hoped for might be a zoning violation, for conducting business in a residential area. But I don't even see how they could go after the lady for tax evasion, if both consider the fee a "gift." And if that's the case, then there couldn't even be a zoning violation... If it were, then birthday and anniversary parties would have to be outlawed.
Mark
From what I can tell, "escorts" are simply more discrete prostitutes, where no sexual acts are discussed directly, but it's assumed that's what's going to happen. They're also quite different from the "street walker," who can be a terrible thing for property values in a neighborhood, but more importantly, is going to be in danger from any psycho on the street who happens to come up to her: Someone like Ted Bundy, or another example would be the Green River Killer, who killed all those poor prostitutes in WA (I think). But here in the Kansas City area, they've always gone after streetwalkers when the population around Independence Ave finally gets pissed off enough, and they bust the ladies, and do stings to get the johns. The joke going around was that if the lady was somewhat attractive, then she was probably a cop! lol
But what's been going on in the KC area is a massive crackdown on escort agencies, massage (or body rubs) and escorts who advertise on the Internet, as well as in local publications. The key difference is that in order to come into contacts with these ladies, you have to go looking for them, either in local magazines, or on the Internet, as opposed to streetwalkers who are out and about, sometimes in residential areas. As I mentioned in my post, my interest in this comes from a massive operation involving 20 (I'm not kidding... TWENTY different) police agencies, from different cities, counties, and states. There are even rumors that the FBI was coordinating the busts! All to get 100 people arrested... And I've heard that 40 of those were strippers who allowed patrons to place dollar bills in places that apparantly the state believes should be off-limits... Here's an article on the "success" of the stings. I've also heard that many of the charges were dropped. It looks like the police were a bit overzealous in making the arressts in order to get the numbers up. I wonder just how much money was spent to get those 100 arrests, and if that money could have been spent in better ways...
Mark
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