tuscl

15 customers of Warren massage parlors ordered to testify in prostitution probe

Friday, June 15, 2012 10:24 PM
Subpoenas have been issued to 15 men from Northeast Ohio, telling them to appear in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on Monday to testify about suspected prostitution in eight recently closed city massage parlors. The men are among 38 people the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation interviewed during a yearlong investigation into the parlors. In all cases, the men admitted to procuring sex from women in the parlors, but they were not guaranteed anonymity, said Greg Hicks, city law director. They are being offered immunity from prosecution, however, as long as they show up for the hearing and testify truthfully, Hicks said. If they do not appear, Hicks said he will ask the judge to issue an arrest warrant. The men were identified through videotaping done near the parlors, officials said. Cameras picked up license plate numbers of individuals visiting there. Those visiting the parlors at least three times and at least one time this year were contacted by BCI agents. Judge W. Wyatt McKay of common pleas court will use the testimony at the hearing to decide whether the temporary restraining order issued earlier that closed the parlors should be terminated or whether a preliminary or permanent injunction should be issued to extend the order. According to an affidavit investigators filed with the court, these men have been ordered to testify about their patronage of the spas: Donald B. Mumford of Cuyahoga Falls told investigators he paid about $200 to the Fantacy Spa for sex and a massage, John M. Kassai Jr. of Campbell will be asked to testify regarding his visits to the Fantasy Spa, Sun Spa and Ocean Spa, where he paid between $60 and $200 for sex. Paul J. Hatala of North Bloomfield will be asked about his visits to five spas. Albert Blazie Jr. of Warren will be asked about the $50 to $60 he paid for sex at two parlors. Louis Vennitti Jr. of Warren will be asked about paying for sex at two parlors. Daniel Santon of Canfield will be asked about his several visits for sex over the past year. Ronald Waid of Richfield will be asked about his monthly visits to Tokyo Spa in the last few years. Dana Blasberg of Mansfield will be asked about the $60 he paid for a massage and sex. Kenneth Vagnini of Wooster will be asked about visiting the Sun Spa for sex the past 12 years. Charles Bowman Jr. of Warren will be asked about six trips to three parlors for sex. Keith R. Bickel of Ravenna will be asked about his visits for sex to the Sun Spa every month for the past year. Donald N. Devaul Jr. of Youngstown will be asked about his trip to the Ocean Spa in April, where he spent $100 for sex. Others customers receiving subpoenas were Robert Hazelton of Pepper Pike, Nicholas O. Rodzianko of Brecksville and William E. Better of Cleveland. [view link]

17 comments

  • jackslash
    •
    12 years ago
    This is a nasty story. They publish the names of men who have committed the horrible crime of having sex. The men and their wives and children will be humiliated and ridiculed. Some men will lose their jobs. Some families will be torn apart by divorce. Some children will lose a parent and be pushed into poverty. And at the end of the day all that the prosecutors will accomplish is shut down a few massage parlors. Aren't there more serious that police and prosecutors could focus on? Do they have any pity for the people whose lives they will destroy?
  • Electronman
    •
    12 years ago
    So these men are being subpoenaed because their car was observed in the parking lot of a spa that is suspected of allowing prostitution? I seem to recall some important documents that talk about rights--- such as the right to remain silent and the right to not provide self-incriminating evidence and the right to assembly. I guess the "gestapo" in Warren are not familiar with the Constitution. I hope the men being subpoenaed get a decent lawyer.
  • farmerart
    •
    12 years ago
    Never in Canada.
  • gatorfan
    •
    12 years ago
    Talk about guilty until they admit they're guilty
  • pabloantonio
    •
    12 years ago
    What is to stop unconstitutional law enforcement officials from issueing subpoenas to regular stripclub patrons if a club is charged with prostitution? Just because I go into a bar doesn't mean I drank, and just because I go to a stripclub doesn't mean I fucked the dancers. Oh wait, bad example.
  • bang69
    •
    12 years ago
    what ever happened to inocent till proven guilty
  • Tiredtraveler
    •
    12 years ago
    @bang69 it's call the patriot act. The cops do whatever they want since its passage and you can do nothing about it. They can break down your door for NO reason and if you protest they can legally charge you with obstruction even if they were mistaken in kicking in you door. They no longer need a warrant or probable cause just suspicion. I have a friend who is a cop and thinks it is bad law because it allow cowboy cops to run amuck.
  • shadowcat
    •
    12 years ago
    In Ohio, when you shut down the massage parlours and strip clubs, this is what happens: A man was arrested for the fourth time for having sex with a teddy bear in public. Charles Marshall, 28, received a citation on Wednesday for masturbating with the stuffed animal in an alley near the Elm Street Health Clinic in Cincinnati, Ohio, it has been revealed. This is the fourth occasion since 2010 that the man has been arrested for pleasuring himself with a teddy bear. Marshall received a citation for disorderly conduct in the most recent incident. Employees at the health clinic noticed Marshall in an alley engaging in a sex act with himself. They reported the situation to police. Marshall was found using the stuffed animal to masturbate. Marshall has a history of arrests for having sex with teddy bears in public. Read more: [view link]
  • canny
    •
    12 years ago
    Keep in mind, the strippers at strip clubs are all there voluntarily. They can choose to not work and they can choose what they do and do not do. The women at those massage parlors are little more than slaves. They can't even leave without an escort to make sure they come back and they don't try to escape.
  • georgmicrodong
    •
    12 years ago
    @Electronman: "I seem to recall some important documents that talk about rights--- such as the right to remain silent and the right to not provide self-incriminating evidence and the right to assembly." Most courts consider an offer of immunity in return for testimony to be protecting the right of no self-incrimination, so you can't legally invoke it. In other words, if they offer you immunity, you *must* provide the testimony, even if it *is* self-incriminating, and failure to do so is a crime.
  • ArchiePitcar
    •
    12 years ago
    Yes, but all they had on these guys was that their cars were videotaped and they were seen entering and leaving the spas, which were licensed to offer massages. Easy for us to say, I know, but I don't think there would have been much of a case if all those guys had said was that they got massages.
  • canny
    •
    12 years ago
    If those guys had only gotten massages, they wouldn't be testifying. They would have told the cops to get lost because they hadn't done anything. Instead they agreed to testify in exchange for immunity.....
  • Electronman
    •
    12 years ago
    GMD-- @Electronman: "I seem to recall some important documents that talk about rights--- such as the right to remain silent and the right to not provide self-incriminating evidence and the right to assembly." Most courts consider an offer of immunity in return for testimony to be protecting the right of no self-incrimination, so you can't legally invoke it. In other words, if they offer you immunity, you *must* provide the testimony, even if it *is* self-incriminating, and failure to do so is a crime. I'm not a lawyer,but LEO would need have very compelling evidence, beyond seeing your car in the parking lot, in order for this immunity deal to make any sense. As written, it is not at all clear what evidence they have to implicate the men whose cars were seen in the parking lot. I do agree---If you accept immunity, then you must testify. But why even agree to immunity-- it is legal to park at a massage parlor last I checked.
  • georgmicrodong
    •
    12 years ago
    @Electronman: You don't seriously think LEO depends on just *evidence* to convince people to testify, do you? Intimidation and blackmail work as well for the cops as they do with the mob. Most guys in that situation aren't thinking straight; they're scared, and the cops are not at all reluctant to use that fear to their advantage.
  • vincemichaels
    •
    12 years ago
    Fuck the pigs.
  • gatorfan
    •
    12 years ago
    They can subpoena anyone anytime for anything but the prosecutor won't have his job very long
  • Wabofiur
    •
    12 years ago
    Rule #1: Don't talk to the police w/o your lawyer present. Rule #2: Double Tap. No, wait, wrong movie. See Rule #1. Seriously, anyone who talks to the cops or prosecutors is an idiot. And this from someone who spent almost 3 years on the other side of the badge. In this case, so they had pictures of your car in the parking lot of a massage parlor. BFD. But no, these guys had to "cooperate" and offer their own admissions of wrongdoing -- which would then be the ONLY evidence the prosecution would have of the crime. So now they are subject to prosecution, and that leads to the subpoenas and public outing. Don't. Talk. To. The. Police.
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