Hiding in Plain View: Sex Trafficking and Massage Parlors in Northern Virginia

Below are links to a three-part series that looks at sex trafficking and illegally operating massage parlors in Northern Virginia.

In a recent interview, Arlington Police Detective Crystal Nosal said officers in this county have not raided massage parlors since at least 2009 -- that vice officers, when they are able, typically scour online ads and target individual instances of prostitution on a case-by-case basis.

The Arlington County Board on Nov. 29 will vote on repealing an ordinance that allows for the local regulation of massage parlors. The ordinance was established in 1975 in an effort "to professionalize massage practitioners and to control prostitution that was taking place at massage parlors." The repeal is on the table because state law doesn't grant that regulatory ability to localities.

If repealed, massage therapists still must be licensed by the state and parlors still must obtain general business licenses.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3: