KRDO13 Investigates: Sex is still for sale in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Sex still appears to be for sale in Colorado Springs; that's despite a city law passed four years ago that came about after a series of KRDO13 investigative reports. Now, our reporting is leading to change again.
The law was meant to shut down illegal spas masquerading as legitimate businesses. Now, the mayor is calling for more enforcement after KRDO13 Investigates showed him what we uncovered. The Colorado Springs City Clerk confirmed that no businesses have had their licenses revoked.
Limited enforcement:
Our team uncovered that there's been little enforcement of the city law since it was enacted, and found more than a dozen unlicensed spas that appear to be selling sex. With the passage of Ordinance 22-30, the city of Colorado Springs required massage businesses to be licensed and also prohibited them from advertising sex.
When the city passed this law in May of 2022, there were 33 operating.
Online reviews indicate continued prostitution activities:
KRDO13 Investigates found 15 spas where people recently claimed online that they’ve paid for sexual services.
Those explicit reviews are on a website called Rub Maps. It's a website that Colorado Springs police tell us they use to track down illicit spas that could be fronts for human trafficking and prostitution.
“They’re selling sex, they’re showing young girls wearing barely anything … This business, when posting these ads, is demonstrating it’s a house of prostitution," Lt. Mark Comte said in 2019.
One of those online reviews brings us to a spa on 8th Street, where people say they received sexual services at Asian Massage. We asked the business about the reviews, and they repeatedly denied the claims and slammed the door in our face. That's after they showed us their business license with the city. The spa is licensed with the city under the name Lucky Massage, but the addresses match.
We once got a look inside one of the spas when former KRDO13 Investigates reporter Stephanie Sierra went undercover. Inside, she booked a massage and kept her phone recording as she spoke with the women working there in 2019.
"People are dirty. Some people stinky. I don't like that. " I want to go home," one woman told KRDO13 Investigates.
Four years after the city law was passed, many suspected illicit spas say they’re open, but have an additional lock and camera to keep you from seeing what happens behind closed doors. Some even let the phone ring as we were right outside.
Who's enforcing the law?
After finding these reviews, we asked the police for an update on how many criminal citations had been issued to illicit spas, including human trafficking, prostitution, license violations, and any other crime. We asked 10 times by email, once over the phone, and once in person. Our initial request was sent to the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) public information office on March 4.
We asked the department to sit down for an interview on this topic. CSPD declined, saying the department "simply didn't have the time." So KRDO13 Investigates sat down with Councilman Dave Donelson.
"I have provided them with the tool they needed. Now, it's a question of why, isn't it used?" questioned Donelson.
In 2022, City Councilman Dave Donelson was a leading force in passing Ordinance 22-30.
"Colorado Springs is a family. You know, the biggest small town in America, as we like to say, a wholesome place, human trafficking, illicit massage parlors is not what we want in our city. And so I do think this is not to be ignored by Colorado Springs, by CSPD. We should address it," stated Donelson.
During our conversation, he called the chief of police behind closed doors.
After our interview with Councilman Donelson on April 20, the police indeed got back to us, saying that the citation numbers for illicit spas would be, quote, “extraordinarily high.”
Our investigative team found 13 open, unlicensed spas in Colorado Springs, which is 17 fewer than there were when licenses became required.
Police address the issue
Nearly 100 days after our initial request and numerous follow-ups, the police granted us a sit-down interview. They also shared data for the number of citations issued since the licensing law was passed:
- 24 were issued in 2022
- 2 issued in 2023
- 0 in 2024
- 0 in 2025
- 0 in 2026
According to police, those citations all had to do with license violations; none were in response to suspected prostitution or human trafficking.
In addition, police told us that in the past 12 months, CSPD had received nine calls for service at massage parlors. Five of those calls are still active investigations, and the other four did not result in a criminal investigation.
A change in priorities
When police provided the data for citations given to massage businesses operating illegally, they also provided a statement to contextualize the data.
"CSPD continually prioritizes its investigative resources toward incidents that present the greatest risk to public safety and victimization. While city ordinance violations, like those detailed in the passage of Ordinance 22-30, are reviewed and investigated when reported to us and as appropriate, the department's primary enforcement focus regarding sexual criminal activity is on known or reported offenses, including internet crimes against children, commercial sexual exploitation, and human trafficking, wherever they are occurring.
Investigations involving massage businesses are complex and often require proactive enforcement, specialized resources, significant time (e.g., sting operations), and corroborating evidence. Community reporting remains critical in helping investigators identify potential violations, develop leads, and determine appropriate enforcement actions.
Over the past several years, CSPD has adjusted investigative priorities to address evolving public safety concerns, resource limitations, and increasing demands associated with human trafficking and child exploitation investigations. In June 2025, CSPD combined its Human Trafficking Unit and Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Unit to better align these efforts. As the lead agency for Colorado's ICAC Task Force, CSPD manages a growing volume of statewide cyber tips and referrals involving child sexual abuse material and internet-facilitated crimes against children, requiring substantial investigative resources and coordination with local, state, and federal partners.
Given these demands, CSPD must continually evaluate where limited resources can have the greatest impact. Cases involving human trafficking, child exploitation, and internet crimes against children often present immediate risks to victim safety and therefore remain among the department's highest priorities.
CSPD encourages anyone with information regarding suspected criminal activity or city ordinance violations to report them to us, so investigators can assess the circumstances and determine the most appropriate response. While all reports are taken seriously, the department must balance enforcement efforts with the increasing demands of investigating crimes that pose the most significant threats to victims and public safety."
As part of that statement, police also provided additional data on the number of tips submitted to the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
- 2023: 10,745
- 2024: 13,166
- 2025: 23,577
- 2026: 8,261 (Jan 1st - May 31st)
When KRDO13 Investigates interviewed CSPD, these themes of shifting investigative priorities were reiterated. However, they also cited a need for more officers.
To that point, KRDO13 Investigates asked:
"Would those additional officers then be devoted to something such as prostitution in the city, or is that not going to be a priority as much as you're having to deal with those additional tips that you're receiving?"
"I can say that with better staffing becomes a more deliberate approach on our part in terms of how we can be proactive,"
Replied CSPD Commander Daniel Thompson.
In the meantime, Commander Thompson said that CSPD is trying new ways to use the resources available to them, like the new "Drones as First Responders" program, to shore up areas affected by the staff shortage.
He acknowledged that these are real people in the parlors who are victims.
"There's a face on the end of these, and those faces deserve the care and attention that we can provide them in these situations," said CSPD Commander Daniel Thompson.
You can watch our full interview with Commander Daniel Thompson above.
The mayor takes action
KRDO13 Investigates took our findings to the mayor's office. As the person to whom the Chief of Police reports directly, we asked for his comment on the lack of enforcement by the police department at suspected illicit spas. Once we asked, the mayor announced that he would be directing the police to conduct periodic enforcement actions at these businesses.
Here is the full statement:
Combating child human trafficking is one of the highest priorities for my administration and the police department. I am asking CSPD to conduct periodic enforcement operations focused on suspected illicit massage businesses to address human trafficking, exploitation, and related criminal activity in our community. These efforts are designed to identify offenders, protect victims, and hold those responsible accountable under the law.
In addition, CSPD and the City Clerk’s Office will continue working together to refine protocols, strengthen coordination, and improve enforcement efforts related to licensed massage businesses. Our shared goal is to protect vulnerable individuals, enforce the law, and keep Colorado Springs one of the safest cities in the nation.
We all have a role to play in protecting vulnerable individuals and keeping our community safe. If residents suspect criminal activity, human trafficking, or violations of City code, they should report that information to the Colorado Springs Police Department. Community reporting is critical to helping investigators identify potential violations, develop leads, protect victims, and take appropriate enforcement action.
While there is always more work to do, the data shows that Colorado Springs is becoming safer, and we remain committed to making it one of the safest large cities in America.- Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade
Legislative changes at the state level
A state law passed this year, HB26-1257, made it so local governments can raise the fee to apply for a massage business license; the prior state law capped the fee at $150. In Colorado Springs, the fee is $110, and licenses need to be renewed every year. We asked if the city council planned to raise the fee for license renewal in Colorado Springs with the passing of this law. A spokesperson said no councilmembers were looking to do so.
In a statement about why it took the police department nearly 100 days to produce the data for citations, CSPD said:
"The Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) Public Information Unit manages a high volume of information requests from local, regional, and national media outlets, as well as community members seeking information about department activities, incidents, policies, and programs. In addition to serving as the department’s primary liaison to the media and public, the unit is responsible for coordinating and directing internal communications across the organization.
The nature and complexity of information requests from media and community members can vary considerably. Some requests can be fulfilled quickly, while others require various levels of research, including releasing booking photos, reviewing records, consulting with investigators or subject matter experts, and coordinating with multiple units throughout the department. As a result, response times can vary significantly depending on the specifics of each request. Regardless of complexity, the Public Information Unit works to respond to all inquiries as quickly and accurately as possible, often by providing information or additional data to add context to the requested data.
Facilitating media requests often requires collaboration with personnel across the department to ensure information is complete, accurate, and appropriate for release. The time required to fulfill these requests is therefore dependent on a variety of factors unique to each case.
Over the last 3 months, the Public Information Unit has also been working hard to balance our ongoing workload amid the departure of one of our team members and the onboarding of their replacement.
While we strive to provide timely and comprehensive responses to every request, the volume and complexity of our workload mean that, on occasion, and for any number of reasons, some requests may not be fulfilled as quickly as we would like. We remain committed to continually refining our processes to respond to requests from our media partners and strengthening our coordination efforts so that we can respond to all requests as soon as possible.
As one example of the volume of work routinely managed by the unit, over the past 30 days, by my count, the CSPD Public Information Unit has engaged in approximately 85 email exchanges with reporters and staff from KRDO alone, working to facilitate a wide range of information requests and provide answers to questions. This represents only a portion of the unit’s overall workload, which also includes answering requests from numerous media organizations, community stakeholders, and internal department personnel."
Is there something we should know? Contact KRDO13 Investigates by emailing us at 13investigates@krdo.com
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