Illegal sex dens identified opposite suburban primary school, near major police station
CHILDREN using the crossing outside a suburban Melbourne primary school end up at the front door of an illegal brothel, with a second one located just 60m up the road.
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CHILDREN using the pedestrian crossing outside their outer suburban Melbourne primary school end up at the front door of an illegal brothel.
If they then turn to their right, they walk past a second illegal brothel just 60 metres further up the shopping strip.
And there are seven more dodgy sex dens within a kilometre of a suburban 24-hour police station.
The Herald Sun has spoken to a man who claims to have sampled sexual services at the two illegal brothels opposite the primary school.
He has provided a statutory declaration which details what he claims took place inside, including that on his four visits to one: “I have been provided with sexual services by three different women, thereby dispelling any rogue masseur notion.”
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The two sex dens opposite the primary school are among more than 250 alleged illegal brothels reported to Victoria Police by the legal brothel industry in the past five years, including the recent reporting of 21 of them in the City of Knox.
The Australian Adult Entertainment Industry — which represents legal brothels — yesterday claimed only a few of the illegal brothels of which police have been made aware have been shut down.
It has also recently alerted Brighton MP Louise Asher to the presence of several illegal brothels in her electorate.
That prompted Ms Asher to ask Police Minister Lisa Neville to investigate the alleged bayside sex dens.
Ms Neville today responded by vowing to give police whatever they need to crackdown on the growing illegal brothel problem.
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“We have always said we will give Victoria Police the powers and resources needed to keep Victoria safe. This area is no exception,” she told the Herald Sun.
AAEI spokesman William Albon today claimed police and local councils had all but given up on investigating and closing illegal brothels.
“Councils have proscribed a few. While proscribing a business as an illegal brothel closes the brothel it doesn’t lead to prosecution of the operator,” he said.
“It simply targets the owner of the land, who is never the operator.
“What is needed is for some good old fashioned policing, resulting in a couple of operators of illegal brothels going to prison and having their assets seized.
Victoria Police today defended its past policing of illegal brothels, but also revealed it is now examining new ways to tackle them.
“As with any criminal activity there is constant consideration about how Victoria Police can best serve the needs of the community and the stakeholders that it engages with,” a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
“To that end, an internal review is currently underway to determine the most suitable model that will support Victoria Police to achieve that outcome.”
Victoria Police has charged 11 offenders with 39 offences relating to illegal sex work in the past 12 months.
Mr Albon today said the Victoria Police review was coming more than five years after the AAEI was promised action to crackdown on illegal brothels.
“It is diabolical that there is no timetable attached to this review, which means that for now there are ‘no coppers on the beat’ and the illegal brothel operators are running wild without fear of conviction,” he said.
The man who provided the statutory declaration outlining his visits to the two illegal brothels opposite the primary school asked not to be named, but the Herald Sun knows his identity and he is happy to give sworn statements to police about the sexual services he claims to have received.
His latest visit to one of the illegal brothels was on September 7.
“Three women of Asian ethnicity were in attendance,” his statutory declaration claims.
“I had pre-booked a one hour session with a woman. I paid $75 to one of the women at a reception point. I was shown to a room with sparse furnishing.”
His statutory declaration claims another woman entered the room and that after he gave her $100 she “removed my clothes and hers too, lathered us both with massage oil, massaged my upper torso and provided me with a sexual service”.
A recent website advertisement for the other illegal brothel opposite the school said it had Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese girls available for full body oil relaxation massages and that it had a winter special of $55 for a massage by a “young student”.
“Our young massage therapists will satisfy all your needs. Lay back and have a good time privately. We will make your day happy,” the ad said.
Legitimate massage facility owner Frank Giachin today said his Moorabbin business has been hit hard by the numbers of illegal brothels which have sprung up around him.
He has put a sign in his window warning customers his is not one of the illegal ones and that his employees only offer non-sexual Thai massages.
“It is very distressing for the women who work for me to be asked by new customers if they will provide a sexual service, which they often are,” Mr Giachin said.