HAVERHILL — One of the women charged with running a house of prostitution in a downtown massage parlor was held without bail today, and the other was released on personal recognizance.
At their arraignment in Haverhill District Court, the lawyer for one of the women said she may have been lured by police into offering sex for money.
Malissa Machado, 29, of Peabody was ordered held without bail. Prosecutor John DePaulo said she has a pending court case against her and is on probation in another community for unrelated offenses. Daniela Moore, 29, of Malden was released without bail. Both were ordered to appear April 21 for a pretrial hearing.
"It may be a case of entrapment," Attorney Michael Baldassarre of Salisbury said of his client Machado.
On Tuesday afternoon, police raided Star Touch Massage, which operated out of a second-floor suite in the Franklin Block building at 200 Merrimack St. Police arrested Machado and Moore, charging both with operating a house of prostitution in a condominium of the 20-unit building. Machado was also charged with sexual conduct for a fee.
At the arraignment, DePaulo said Moore was working at the front desk at the time an undercover officer had posed as a customer and that Machado, who owned the massage business, led the officer to a room where there was a massage table.
"It was obviously a sex-for-money business," DePaulo said, reading from a police report that described Machado as suggesting the officer touch her breasts.
A complete report will appear in Thursday's edition of The Eagle-Tribune.
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