The owner of a South Portland massage parlor that was shut down because it had no business license and offered at least one sexual massage service admitted to a pair of charges in court Wednesday and paid a $1,500 fine.

Lucy Louie, 34, of Morristown, N.J., admitted in Cumberland County Unified Criminal Court in Portland to civil violations of operating Red Stone Spa at 585 Broadway without a massage license and failure to license as an adult use establishment. She was fined $500 for the first charge and $1,000 for the second, which she paid in cash.

A third civil charge of operating an adult use establishment at a prohibited site was dismissed by the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office because she admitted to the other two violations.

South Portland police and city officials ordered the Red Stone Spa closed on Aug. 19 after officers investigated a week earlier and found that the business was offering so-called “table showers,” or nude rubdowns of patrons.

“The Police Department has evidence that one or more massage therapists … are providing massages to clients whose genitals are exposed,” wrote South Portland police Officer Jeffrey Caldwell in a letter to the spa’s proprietors dated Aug. 20.

That particular practice constitutes a violation of a 1997 city ordinance that defines such businesses as “adult use establishments” and gives the City Council the final approval of their business licenses.

Scott Dolan can be reached at 791-6304 or at:

sdolan@pressherald.com

Twitter: @scottddolan

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