Two reported rapes of women working at massage businesses on Plank Road — one in the city, one in are the backdrop for a Fredericksburg review of local parlor rules.
Fredericksburg police said a woman reported she was raped Aug. 31 while working at a massage and wellness spa in the 2100 block of Plank Road in the city. That call went to the city’s E-911 center. Fredericksburg police are investigating that case.
The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office said a second woman reported she was raped March 12 while working at a massage therapy business in the 5000 block of Plank Road in Spotsylvania. Sheriff’s detectives handled that scene.
The two agencies later said the cases were connected and named Cesar Mario Torres Juarez, 30, of Spotsylvania, as the suspect.
In the city he was wanted on charges of rape, forcible sodomy, object sexual penetration, abduction with intent to defile and strangulation. In Spotsylvania he was wanted on charges of rape, abduction by force and assault and battery.
The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office later said it took Torres Juarez into custody after a brief vehicle pursuit in the county. Sheriff’s detectives and Fredericksburg police said they were interviewing him. Fredericksburg police did not make that arrest.
Those reports were before City Council on Sept. 8 when members, by consensus, directed staff to look at potential local regulations of massage parlors. No ordinance was introduced. Council took no vote.
Melissa Turner of Yellow Bike Massage, 1105 Caroline Street, asked council to study Stafford and Spotsylvania ordinances she said put buffers on illicit businesses. She framed it as public safety, offered to work with legitimate therapists and law enforcement, and referred to recent events on Plank Road without naming a case.
At-Large Councilor Dr. Will B. Mackintosh thanked her. He said illegitimate massage businesses have been tied to sexual assault and rape reports in the community and noted that his husband is a licensed massage therapist.
Mackintosh asked City Manager Timothy J. Baroody and City Attorney Kelly Lackey to review options. He said Spotsylvania requires criminal background checks for every practitioner and Fredericksburg does not, calling that possible low-hanging fruit.
On Thursday, city spokesman Clinton F. Firstbrook IV confirmed the direction. Staff are reviewing possible
local requirements for massage therapy and expect to bring recommendations to a work session, likely in November, he said in an email to Potomac Local News.
Fredericksburg does not have a local ordinance requiring criminal background checks of massage parlor employees or owners, Firstbrook said. Since 2016, state-licensed massage therapists must be fingerprinted and pass a criminal background check under Virginia Code § 54.1-3005.1.
The city has no comment on pending cases, he said. He said the Sept. 8 discussion showed interest in local rules “in the interest of furthering health, safety, and welfare at massage establishments.”
Public listings show roughly a dozen massage or spa storefronts in the city and another half-dozen or more along Plank Road in Spotsylvania. The city has not published an official count. The 5000-block case is outside city limits.
