Police Raid Massage Parlor, Arrest 11

Cambridge police yesterday arrested ten women on charges of soliciting for prostitution following a raid on "Le Club," an East Cambridge massage parlor which opened about two weeks ago.

Two undercover policemen posing as construction workers entered the establishment late yesterday morning and police raided the second floor establishment after masseuses solicited the policemen, Cambridge Police Captain Anthony Paolillo said yesterday.

A crowd of about 250 people, which Paolillo described as "matronly," cheered as police led the 11 defendants, including a man arrested for knowingly inducing prostitution, out of the building at 497 Cambridge St. and into police vehicles.

"When the girls were arrested, they had on G-strings and nipple covers and nothing else," Julia Gelowitsky, a resident who watched the arrests, said yesterday.

About 25 residents demonstrated in front of the establishment Monday and police reportedly received numerous complaints about "Le Club," city hall officials said yesterday.

The women were later arraigned in Middlesex District Court, and released on personal recognizance, pending a November 30 trial.

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Paolillo said yesterday that police had known about the club, which had advertised a job offering $40-75 earnings per day for women with no prior experience, for about five weeks, adding that "we just had to get the whole thing together."

"The place was just lavish," Paolillo said, adding that police were trying to locate the owners of the club.

Cambridge Mayor Thomas W. Danehy yesterday praised the police, saying, "we should get rid of all those types of places in Cambridge."

The Cambridge City Council Monday night passed an ordinance strictly regulating operations and licensing of massage parlors in Cambridge. Police did not arrest the defendants for violating the new ordinance.