PEABODY — Over the past three months, detectives assigned to the Salem Police Criminal Investigation Division have conducted an extensive investigation into suspected human trafficking and prostitution-related activities at several businesses in the City of Salem advertising “bodywork,” “reflexology,” and “spa” services.
Human trafficking involves the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of individuals for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Perpetrators engage in these criminal enterprises to profit from the exploitation of victims. The Salem Police Department emphasizes that individuals involved in these situations are regarded as victims and are treated accordingly throughout the investigative process.
On April 17, detectives, working in coordination with officers from the Community Impact Unit and the department’s Victim Services Unit, executed multiple search warrants. These included locations at 133 Boston St., operating as “New Custom Body Work,” and 116A Boston St., operating as “Red Rose Reflexology.”
As a result of the investigation, three individuals were taken into custody: Peter Leavitt, 57, of Peabody; Fang Liu, 52, of Peabody; and Barry St. Onge, 64, of Shrewsbury. Each will be charged with trafficking of a person for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution, and keeping a house of prostitution.
“We see this as much a rescue operation as it is a criminal investigation. The exploitation of victims of human trafficking will not be tolerated in the city of Salem,” Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller stated.
The investigation was conducted with the assistance of several partner agencies, including the Massachusetts State Police Human Trafficking Division within the State Attorney General’s Office, the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, and the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.
