Last summer, the Seattle Police Department carried out a prostitution sting at a mock massage parlor in University District.
On the last day of the ten-day operation, the Seattle Times published a fast-paced, lurid story describing how officers conducted the operation at a fake brothel called Euro Spa. “Western European Masseuse,” read a banner at the entrance of the drabby building where the department’s Vice and High Risk Victims Unit set up its sting. Undercover cops inside wore high heels and miniskirts, offering would-be johns handjobs ($100), blowjobs ($140) or intercourse ($200). More than 200 men handed money over to officers, securing their place in handcuffs rather than receiving happy endings.
One year later, cases from the Euro Spa sting of June 2016 are still slowly making their way through Seattle’s Municipal Court. Some men arrested that night have pled guilty to “sexual exploitation,” the city’s recently modified term for the misdemeanor of patronizing a prostitute. Others have requested trials. This is par-for-the-course in municipal court, where cases tend to reach boring resolutions without making headlines.
