GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — NBC 26 first reported last week that Green Bay Police records show various violations at several spas throughout the city, including sexual contact.
Now, we're getting some answers from the Green Bay Police Department.
"When we do the compliance checks, if there's somebody within that business that's performing these duties and they're not properly licensed, that's when we give them the ordinance violation citation," Investigations Capt. Jeff Brester said.
Capt. Brester is talking about several spas along Military Avenue after our story aired about some of them violating city law.
We first told you about the Gonh Spa, Sunrise Spa, and Dream Spa. Several of the violations include at least one employee not having a valid massage license.
Despite the violations, these spas remain open.
"If there's another licensed therapist within there, they can still work, because they have the proper licensing," Brester said.
Records show in December last year, an employee at the Dream Spa was cited for a massage license violation, and was the only worker in there. At the time, the employee was told to close the business.
But Capt. Brester said that the Dream Spa's closure was temporary.
"We didn't close it per se," Brester said. "But you just can't have business today, because no one is here, or at least at this time, no one's here to do any of the work," Brester said.
When NBC 26 visited the Dream Spa last week for comment, the doors were locked.
Records show in January of this year, police got a call from a customer at the Sunrise Spa claiming sexual contact.
Police said a male customer complained that a female worker grabbed him in a "sexual manner."
Records state that the customer told officers he did not want to be a victim of sexual assault or press charges, but wanted the spa to be further investigated.
"There was not enough information for us to move forward with charges," Brester said.
When we visited the Gonh Spa, an employee told us police recently stopped by to check her license. She said her license was valid.
The owner told NBC 26 that workers there have massage certificates.
The police department said two weeks ago, the owner of the retail space called police to do a compliance check on the Gonh Spa.
Capt. Brester said police didn't cite the Gonh Spa for any ordinance violations, but city inspections cited them for having some personal belongings at the spa.
"It was items that were clear that somebody was sleeping there type of thing," Brester said. "It's a violation of the law to live within a business."
Capt. Brester said police also conduct license checks at other businesses throughout the city, including liquor stores and gas stations. Unless there is a complaint, police do these compliance checks randomly throughout the year.
"We want good businesses in Green Bay, just like every other city," Brester said. "We don't want crime. We don't want bad things affiliated with them. So, we try to keep everybody in compliance with the law, and hopefully that works out."
