Nevada Board of Massage Therapy turns its back on neighborhood massage parlor prostitution

By Steve Miller —— Bio and Archives July 26, 2010

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LAS VEGAS - These ads in the current Las Vegas CenturyLink phone book tell it all. If the advertisements are not for prostitution, why do legitimate massage therapists have to run ads in the same directory stating that their services are "NON SEXUAL," and list their Nevada Board of Massage Therapy (NBMT) license number to prove it?

Most taxi drivers will tell you that the majority of local massage parlors are fronts for prostitution. Many parlors offer male patrons what is called a "Happy Ending," or in some cases a "Full Girlfriend Experience" for an extra fee. These specialties are not taught in accredited massage therapy schools. There are those who suspect certain Strip hotel and casino owners actually condone the nearby massage parlors and escort services that supply a quick release to male casino patrons. The alternative is a five or six hour round trip to Nye County where prostitution is legal. Casino insiders tell INSIDE VEGAS that trips to Nye County take gamblers away from the tables for too long, so quickies with escorts or Asian masseuses are tolerated in the hotels or just down the street in our town's neighborhood shopping centers. This may be the reason that Clark County District Attorney David Roger has joined with the NBMT commissioners in ignoring the problem. The commissioners are appointed by the governor. The governor and DA solicit campaign contributions from the casino owners who don't like it when their gamblers lollygag for half the night and spend thousands at Sheri's, or the Chicken Ranch sixty miles away. The massage parlors that are fronts for prostitution pay cabbies up to $90 per passenger delivered, so many cabbies go out of their way to protect the identity and location of the most cabbie friendly parlors, a number of which are located along Sahara Ave. in the city of Las Vegas, or along Spring Mountain Road in China Town. See full column