METHUEN — Less than 24 hours after the announcement of the shutdown of a spa and the arrest of its manager, Mayor D.J. Beauregard announces that the City of Methuen has shut down another alleged front for human sex trafficking, this time at 17 Hampshire St.
Mayor Beauregard is today announcing that the City of Methuen will form a new Human Trafficking Task Force to root out such establishments citywide by holding individual perpetrators and the landlords profiting from these illegitimate businesses accountable.
“The Methuen Human Trafficking Task Force will draw from the resources of our city agencies and partners, including Methuen’s Inspections and Health Divisions, the Methuen Police Department, and community partners and non-profit agencies. We will work together to identify traffickers, shutter illegal businesses that profit from this evil, and hold landlords accountable if they harbor and profit from such activities.
“We must do more — in partnership with our federal and state law enforcement allies, alongside our neighbors here in the Merrimack Valley — to unmask shell corporations that hide business owners, support survivor-centered law enforcement strategies, and close the loopholes in the commercial real estate industry that traffickers exploit. Methuen has zero tolerance for those who profit from human suffering in our city.”
Mayor Beauregard wishes to acknowledge Police Chief Scott J. McNamara and the Methuen Police Department, Health Director Caeli Tegan Zampach and the Departments of Health, Human Services, and Inspections, and the concerned neighbors and small business owners who came forward with these reports.
In the most recent incident, on Monday, Sept. 29, an inspector from the Methuen Department of Health, Human Services, and Inspections responded to a complaint of unlicensed business activity at Eastern Bodywork Therapy located at 17 Hampshire St.
Upon inspection, the inspector discovered that the site was being used as an unlicensed bodywork establishment. Evidence of unlawful habitation and other materials consistent with criminal activity were found in plain view and immediately referred to the Methuen Police Department for further investigation.
The Department of Health, Human Services, and Inspections immediately issued a cease-and-desist order for the premises.
Director of Public Health Caeli Tegan Zampach again reminded residents: “Commercial spaces are not designed or permitted for residential use, and living in them poses serious safety risks. We also encourage everyone to make sure any service-based business they visit has its proper license posted, which is required by law.”
The investigation into 17 Hampshire St. is active and ongoing. Additional details will be released as they become available.
Mayor Beauregard and city officials are expecting to hold a media briefing later this week to detail the creation of the New Task Force.
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