Florida Cops Announce Arrest of Many Massage Therapists in Massive Undercover Sting Nicknamed 'Operation Skin So Soft' - MSN

[Taylor Odisho]

An undercover sting nicknamed "Operation Skin So Soft" resulted in the arrest of 21 spa workers across 12 establishments in Florida.


Over the course of two days, undercover detectives from the Polk County Sheriff's Office audited 22 parlors across the county to find 12 were not in compliance and its employees were engaging in illegal acts, including prostitution, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd revealed during a Thursday press conference.

In one instance, an employee charged an undercover deputy $60 for a massage then "tried to have full sex" with him.

"She stood in front of the door, so he couldn't leave, and then she tried to hold him down," Judd recounted. "She wasn't as big as a popcorn fart, and she was trying to hold this man down."

Three of the 21 employees arrested, ranging in age from 31 to 64, are U.S. citizens but the others are here on work visas from the Republic of China; Judd said his department will be working with the federal government to deport those employees.

"We want them back in their home country if they are not citizens of the United States. You come here. You even legally come here, and you violate the law, you should have lost our trust at the federal level, and you should be returned to your home country," Judd said during the press conference.

The suspects were arrested on a slew of charges, including offering to commit prostitution, unlicensed massage therapy, and, in one instance, battery.