Howell Township closes Route 9 massage parlor
By Kathy Baratta
Staff Writer
HOWELL — Township officials closed a licensed massage parlor last week because, according to Township Clerk Bruce Davis, its current license to operate was issued under "false pretenses."
According to Davis, Tokyo Therapy, which has been operating at the same Route 9 location since it opened for business almost a decade ago, was shut down May 25 by members of Howell’s code enforcement department.
Davis said the owner’s failure to report a 1995 conviction of staff members for on-site felony prostitution charges constituted a violation of the ordinance governing the issuance of the license.
There were no code violations found on the premises last week, he said.
Tokyo Therapy’s license renewal for Feb. 1, 2000, had been pulled from the Township Council’s agenda in January due to concerns expressed by Mayor Timothy Konopka and council members about the operation of the business.
Davis added that "an eye had been kept on the place," and that subsequent to the council’s having pulled the item from its January agenda, the decision to shut down the business was made "administratively" based on input from the township manager’s office, code enforcement and the information contained in the two police reports.
According to a copy of two police reports submitted to Davis by police, one dated Jan. 12, 2000, and the other dated March 30, 1999, there have been "two past criminal investigations … with respect to prostitution."
The reports cite the first investigation in 1995, an undercover operation that was a joint effort undertaken by Howell police, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the FBI and U.S. Customs officials. The report states there were three arrests that resulted in two convictions at that time.
According to the report, another undercover investigation was conducted by the New Jersey State Police in 1999. Several arrests were made, but no convictions have been recorded to date.
Konopka held a press conference at town hall last week to announce the closing of Tokyo Therapy. Subsequent to that, the mayor was unavailable for comment.
Former Councilman Ted Betz told the News Transcript he remembered that during his tenure on the council Tokyo Therapy was shut down in 1997, also for a code enforcement violation.
According to Betz, it had come to officials’ attention that members of the Tokyo Therapy staff were staying over-night at the business, in effect, using it as their residence, which he called "a clear violation of the ordinance."
"As I recall, the business was shut down for a residency violation of the ordinance, not prostitution," Betz said.
According to the January police report, it was determined that at the time of the 1999 arrests one staff member was again listing the business’ address, 5024 Route 9 south, as a place of residence.
The police report goes on to note that Tokyo Therapy is in a "small plaza that houses a day care center for children," and that "as a police officer … in my opinion I cannot recommend this business for relicensing due to the past arrests made at the establishment for prostitution," Howell Detective Sgt. Steven Dreher wrote in January.
The report concludes with Dreher referring the final decision of whether or not to relicense Tokyo Therapy to the Town-ship Council.
According to Davis, Tokyo Therapy’s license was subject to an annual renewal.
Davis was asked what criteria were used in determining relicensing and why, given the business’ previous history — the issue of the 1995 prostitution arrests and convictions as well as the code enforcement shutdown in 1997 — all ensuing license renewal requests from 1995 on weren’t denied.
Davis said the license renewal could be refused if evidence was found supporting charges of "bad character or morals."
He explained that the convictions resulting from the 1995 arrests were not enough to warrant license refusal as the individuals involved had paid their fines and satisfied the terms of their sentences.

