CONWAY, SC (WBTW) – Next week, the 15th Circuit Court solicitor, Jimmy Richardson will try to prove to a judge that two Horry County massage parlors are nuisance businesses.
Richardson says the two parlors are part of a larger investigation where an undercover investigator was sent into 30 different massage parlors, and told prosecutors he found evidence of prostitution in 23 of those locations.
In order to declare a business a nuisance, Richardson has to prove to a judge that the building is being used for lewd and lascivious acts, to make and/or sell drugs, or is tying up police with calls for service. Under state law, if a judge deems a business a nuisance, the business must shut down for one year before reopening.
After the solicitor’s office issued warning letters to the 23 massage parlors, Richardson says all but one of the parlors closed down on their own. Despite that, he will still take each one to court.
“What happens time and time again is they close, and they try to open another business, and if we go through with the process- that it’s a nuisance- you can’t open another business within a year,” Richardson said.
The owners of two different massage parlors will appear in court next week.