ST. GEORGE, Utah — The owner of a massage parlor in St. George was arrested Wednesday on numerous charges including lewdness and sexual solicitation after police conducted an undercover operation that spanned several months.
According to a statement of probable cause, St. George Police began investigating Dixie Massage at 225 North Bluff Street in June of 2016 after learning that sex acts were allegedly occurring on the premises.
Police later learned of a second location offering massages at 43 North and 300 West in Washington.
Undercover officers visited both locations posing as clients, and they were able to negotiate terms for sex acts in exchange for money, though the officers then declined to engage in the sex acts. An undercover officer also met Brett Labrum in the lobby during one visit, and Labrum told the officer he was in charge of setting up the appointments.
Labrum was determined to be the owner of Dixie Massage and the person paying utilities for the second location, and surveillance teams learned he visited both parlors regularly.
Labrum was taken into custody after police served warrants on both massage parlors. Labrum admitted to purchasing Dixie Massage in September of 2016 and that he scheduled all appointments, but he denied any knowledge of sex acts occurring at the location.
Police said there were indications Labrum was struggling with whether or not to tell officers the truth during the interview, but they decided not to arrest him until the evidence could be reviewed further.
Investigators later spoke with two victims who worked at the massage parlors, and they said Labrum visited prior to purchasing the business. One victim said Labrum would ask her to gratify him sexually, then would do so himself with her in the room after she declined to do so. The victim said this happened on several occasions.
A second victim said Labrum visited as a customer and grabbed her hand, forcing her to touch his genitals before she could pull away. After Labrum bought the business she said he told her he would teach her how to give a massage but then attempted to touch her inappropriately. When she jumped away, Labrum allegedly exposed himself and began to gratify himself sexually.
The woman said she wanted to leave the room but felt like she couldn’t because Labrum owned the company.
Labrum was arrested Wednesday and booked into jail, where he faces four counts of running a massage parlor without a license, five counts of sexual solicitation, six counts of lewdness and one count of forcible sex abuse.
