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Log In Subscribe. Facing a near quadrupling of the number of illicit massage parlors in Petaluma, the police department has begun crafting an ordinance aimed at requiring all massage therapists to be officially licensed in an effort to crack down on prostitutes masquerading as masseuses. Petaluma Police Lieutenant Tim Lyons said that because there is currently no state law requiring massage therapists to obtain a license, it has fallen to cities to regulate the activities inside these establishments.
San Rafael's ordinance, adopted in March of , requires that the California Massage Therapy Council license anyone working as a massage therapist within the city limits, a standard that Petaluma's People's Choice winner of Best Masseuse Doris Watson supports as a way to separate serious, trained masseuses from the illicit variety that call themselves by the same name. I think it would most certainly help eliminate this illegal element that's going on," she said, referring to erotic massage businesses.
Detective Paul Gilman said that monitoring illegal massage parlors, which often advertise on the Internet, is very difficult because the crime is only a misdemeanor and the department can only serve search warrants for felony crimes.
