news Councillor wants to shut down sex spas

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Councillor wants to shut down sex spas



Sun Oct 25, 7:54 AM

A city councillor says there are 3,000 illegal massage parlours serving sex day and night in Toronto and he wants them out.


Giorgio Mammoliti claims crime syndicates are involved in smuggling girls into Canada, obtaining club space, paying for advertising and offering protection.

"This is a well-organized and well-orchestrated concept that just didn't happen overnight," he said. "This is organized crime alive and well in the City of Toronto."

Some of the women may have been smuggled into the country and forced into the sex trade, Mammoliti said.

Mammoliti said there are about 90 illegal massage parlours in his York West riding and about 3,000 in the city, where he claims red light districts already exist since sex can be purchased day and night.

He called on the RCMP and OPP to investigate clubs to determine if prostitution, trafficking in women, immigration or other laws are being broken.

Mammoliti said there are not enough bylaw officers to target the illicit spas across the city. "There are already red light districts in the city," Mammoliti said. "Most of these places provide sexual activity 24/7."

Accompanied by two security officers, Mammoliti yesterday visited the Golden Touch Spa on Milvan Dr. and slapped a notice on the front door directing them to leave North York.

"I am requesting that you pack up your business and leave York West," Mammoliti wrote on a City of Toronto letter he taped to the door.

"Your type of establishment is not wanted in Ward 7 ..."

A scantily clad woman refused to open a glass door for Mammoliti or the Sunday Sun.

He vowed to continue his visits to spas with city and provincial agencies.

Spa owner Yihong Zhan, to whom the letter was addressed, is before the courts facing about 15 offences ranging from performing services not listed, obstructing an inspection and operating a bawdy house.

So far, eight businesses have been forced to leave the ward due to criminal behaviour.

The parking lot outside the spa was the scene of the city's first murder of the year on Jan. 3, when Johnny Youkhana, 36, was shot to death. His alleged killer is before the courts.

Mammoliti worries clubs could become legal depending on the outcome of an appeal by dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford and prostitutes Valerie Scott and Amy Lebovitch. The case involves three provisions of the Criminal Code dealing with prostitution.

TOM.GODFREY@SUNMEDIA.CA