Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced that a court has ordered the closure of a commercial property in Austin for one year after repeated allegations that illicit massage businesses were operating at the site.
The order applies to 13233 Pond Springs Road, Suite 322, in Austin, and follows a multi-year investigation led by the Attorney General's Human Trafficking Unit. The court also imposed a five-year ban preventing the property from being leased to massage businesses after a one-year closure period ends.
According to the Attorney General's office, a nuisance abatement lawsuit was first filed against the location in February 2024, resulting in the closure of a business known as the Essence Massage. However, officials say another massage business soon opened at the same site, and investigators later uncovered evidence of ongoing illicit sexual activity.
Paxton's office subsequently filed a second lawsuit against both the property owner and the operator of the massage business. After a two-day trial, the court ruled in favor of the state.
"I am committed to ending human trafficking in Texas and closing illicit massage businesses throughout the state," Paxton said in a statement. "Many of these businesses operate as nothing more than fronts for human trafficking."
State officials estimate that more than 13,000 illicit massage businesses operate nationwide, including over 2,500 in Texas. Authorities say many of these establishments disguise commercial sex operations as legitimate massage services, with some workers potentially being victims of human trafficking.
The court order marks another step in Texas's ongoing crackdown on illicit massage businesses and human trafficking operations. State officials say enforcement actions like this are intended to disrupt trafficking networks and hold both operators and property owners accountable.
