HAVERHILL — When interviewed by police after her arrest on charges of operating a house of prostitution, Malissa Machado said she was on probation and going to school, and did not want to lose custody of her daughter.
According to a police report on file at Haverhill District Court, Machado also told police that when she opened her downtown business, Star Touch Massage, she "tried to do the right things right away," that she "didn't do the sex for money thing all the time." She also told police that her business was only open three days a week.
Machado, 29, of Peabody, and Daniela Moore, 29, of 34 Broadway Plaza, Malden, were arraigned yesterday in Haverhill District Court on charges of operating a house of prostitution. Machado also was charged with sexual conduct for a fee.
Moore was told to stay out of trouble for 60 days and to appear April 21 for a pretrial hearing.
Judge Patricia Dowling ordered Machado held without bail at the women's prison in Framingham after prosecutor John DePaulo said she had pending court cases against her.
"She is somebody who has all sorts of problems in all sorts of courts," DePaulo said.
According to the Essex County district attorney's office, Machado has a pending case in Lynn District Court where she was charged with assault and battery and vandalism, and was out on bail, and she was on probation related to an assault and battery case in Peabody.
During Machado's arraignment yesterday, her lawyer, Michael Baldassarre of Salisbury, said the case against her "may be a case of entrapment."
He asked the judge not to revoke her bail, saying she has a 12-year-old daughter, lives with her mother in Peabody, and was validly licensed as a massage therapist.
Tuesday afternoon, police raided Star Touch Massage, in a second-floor suite in the Franklin Block building at 200 Merrimack St. in the heart of downtown, and arrested Machado and Moore. Police said they had been investigating the business for five weeks after being tipped off to illicit activities by members of the community.
Reading from a police report, DePaulo said Moore was working at the front desk at the time an undercover officer posed as a customer and that Machado, who he said owned the massage business, led the officer to a room where there was a massage table.
According to the police report, the officer was in his boxer shorts waiting for a massage when Machado entered the room and asked why he was still "wearing those things" (boxers). When he asked if he should take them off she said, "Yes, go ahead, but we need to be quiet because there is a business next door."
Machado asked how he heard of her business. She said, "We don't have people just walking in," adding that her business has a steady clientele, according to the report.
The report goes on to say Machado offered the officer oral sex for $100 and "match play," which the officer interpreted as sexual intercourse, for $200.
Machado began to touch the officer and he advised her to stop, the report said.
"What's wrong honey ... you're not a cop are you?" the report quoted her as saying.
The officer told her he needed to get $200 from an ATM because he wanted match play. The officer then contacted detectives waiting nearby and the two women were arrested.
Machado pleaded with detectives that she "would not do it any more" and that she "needed a break," the police report said.
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