Bajan massage parlours get warning

(Barbados Nation) A local attorney is warning operators of exotic massage parlours that their establishments could be considered brothels if they are being used for any form of sexual activity, including intercourse or any other sexual act, in exchange for money.

Attorney-at-law Ralph Thorne, Q.C. was contacted by the WEEKEND NATION last night after we spoke to several of these operators here, including some who willingly revealed the intimate details of businesses and were also being widely promoted on world wide web.

“While the owner may describe it as a massage parlour, the law would treat it as a brothel, and brothels are illegal operations,” said Thorne, pointing out that the operator or anyone involved in management of the business could be found guilty of the offence of keeping a brothel.

The Sexual Offences Act 1992, Section 13 states that a person who: (a) procures a minor under 16 years of age to have sexual intercourse with any person either in Barbados or elsewhere; or (b) procures another for prostitution, whether or not the person procured is already a prostitute, either in Barbados or elsewhere; or (c) procures another to become an inmate of a brothel or to frequent a brothel, whether the person procured is already an inmate of a brothel in Barbados or elsewhere, is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 15 years.