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Massage Parlor Manager Slapped With Prostitution Charges

ANOKA, Minn. (WCCO) -- The manager of a massage parlor in Ramsey, Minn. has been charged with receiving profits from prostitution and maintaining a "disorderly house."

The criminal complaint filed in Anoka County says 34-year-old Anna Pranom Carlson, manager of the Ban Thai Massage facility on Highway 10, was advertising on Backpage.com, as well as other adult-oriented outlets.

Undercover officers determined that employees at the massage house were offering to touch clients sexually for extra fees.

The complaint says during one sting in May, an undercover detective asked for a "light touch massage," knowing that it was code signifying sexual massage, as opposed to therapeutic massage.

In other cases, clients were allowed to stimulate themselves while being worked on by Carlson's staff, the complaint says.

Carlson allegedly told her employees that, so long as they didn't directly touch clients' genitals, they were not doing anything illegal.

Carlson is accused of receiving profits from the extra fees those services would generate, and has also been charged with having a disorderly house. If convicted of the first charge, she could face up to 15 years in prison and a $40,000 fine.

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