On June 12, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Green Spa and Massage in Loyalsock Township on suspicions that it had been operating as a brothel. Law enforcement arrested two women from Flushing, New York, who allegedly lived at the illicit massage business and provided commercial sex acts to patrons. Both women were charged with promotion of prostitution, and their formal arraignment is scheduled for July 28, 2026.
The search warrant was executed after an undercover state trooper entered and was allegedly offered sex acts in exchange for money by two women. While executing the search warrant on Green Spa and Massage, police found multiple stashes of condoms and large sums of cash in “false” containers, according to Corporal Jonathan Thompson. A significant amount of bodily fluid was also found using a black light, according to court records.
Green Spa and Massage is the third illicit massage business shut down in Lycoming County since the beginning of May. In all three cases, women were arrested and charged with promotion of prostitution.
Illicit massage businesses are common throughout Pennsylvania and provide a legal facade for commercial sexual exploitation. The women who are trafficked in illicit massage businesses are typically promised work opportunities and a better quality of life but are then trapped in a cycle of cultural manipulation, fraud, and coercion. The complex vulnerabilities associated with race, ethnicity, immigration, and class often prevent victims of exploitation from immediately self-identifying as trafficking victims to law enforcement or service providers.
The CSE Institute is disappointed by the pattern of arrests in these illicit massage business raids. Rather than arresting the women in prostitution, we encourage Lycoming County law enforcement to focus their investigation on the buyers soliciting commercial sex from these illicit massage businesses. The Equality Model targets the demand for buying sex by decriminalizing those who are bought and sold for sex and criminalizing sex buyers. The Equality Model includes four key tenets: (1) decriminalization of people in prostitution, (2) criminalization of sex buyers and facilitators, (3) public education about the inherent harms of prostitution, and (4) holistic exit services for victims of commercial sexual exploitation.
Additionally, the CSE Institute encourages Lycoming County law enforcement to conduct careful investigation into the potential victimization of either woman arrested in this case. The line between victim and offender is often blurred in sex trafficking situations. The victim-offender overlap is rooted in coercion, survival, and trauma, not voluntary criminality. Understanding the complexity of forced criminality is important because criminalization perpetuates harm and can act as a barrier to a victim’s recovery. Ultimately, we hope that in combating illicit massage businesses, law enforcement will aim their efforts at sex buyers, while protecting and supporting victims.
The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates on this matter.
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.