a man of (angry) letters

I just received an email from my uncle, David, who used an excellent article by The Telegraph's Travis Fain, which you can find here, to resurrect an argument we've been having since I wrote my first story about the massage parlors in June. The following is my response to his letter, which featured these points:

1) The article references what my uncle calls "a false arrest" at All-American Spa, which is run by his friend Valerie, who was arrested during one of the raids.

2) He correctly notes that there have been "no convictions or charges for trafficking or child prostitution."

3) He claims that the 17-year-old girl I wrote about in my follow-up, who worked at All-American Spa, "mistated her age when she voluntarily applied at that spa."

4) The police never should've been raiding the massage parlors and so it's really good that they are "focusing on real crimes with real victims like the rash of shootings and robberies"

5) Quote: "I think it is time you printed an apology to the spas."

Hey Uncle,

What I noticed first is that if the MPD can't even find the actual owners of the spas, then they probably aren't going to be able to substantiate a human trafficking charge either. That doesn't mean there isn't trafficking anymore than their inability to find the owner means there is no owner. The absence of a legal charge does not equate the absence of a crime. The reason RICO charges exist are to put murderers behind bars when they can't prove the murder but can follow a paper trail to find out that fiduciary laws were broken. Secondly, what I noticed is that there is still plenty of reason to believe that there is or was trafficking in one if not more of these establishments. The fact that some are linked to spas in other areas and several of the owners are believed to be out of the country. The exorbitant rental fees to live in the parlor itself. And then, just this week, someone I've known for a while confessed that she was locked up on a DUI charge the same night that the first raids took place and was in a holding cell with several of the prostituted women. There were three or four of them that spoke no English at all. It's still very hard for me to imagine a woman--a foreign national with no English language skills--wanting to come to this country to become a prostitute of her own free will. I'm still afraid that you're so defiant about the likelihood of this because you formed a friendship with Valerie and feel the need to defend her on a personal level. Further, you feel like defending this is the same as defending your political belief system. I agree with most of your principles, and as I've stated several times before, I'm not concerned with free will prostitution, but I don't believe it exists in the majority of these situations. I think if you spent as much time researching the positions opposing your viewpoints as you do looking for figures to substantiate your claims, then you'd see a different picture. I don't believe that you're wholly wrong, but I certainly don't think you can extrapolate from Valerie's case that ALL the spas in Macon are run like hers is. In fact, in light of the fact that neither Travis Fain nor the MPD can find the owners you said you spoke with, I'm wondering how much you actually know about what goes on in those places. As far as the 17-year-old lying on her application. Every job I've ever held copies your driver's license and social security card when you're hired. Did she have false documents? Further, does her supposed lie mean that Valerie didn't employ a 17-year-old as a prostitute? I have no apology to offer or make at this time, so I'm not going to. That said, as I've said before, if I'm completely wrong about this, I will very happily admit it in a very public forum. It would be an absolute joy to me because me being wrong would me that innocent or misled or abused women were not forced into prostitution and slavery in my hometown. As you might've guessed, I am unbothered by the possibility of being wrong because it would be a good thing. However, if you are wrong about your position, it is a very bad, bad thing. If my cynicism about this situation leads the police and the public to demand proof that girls and women aren't being trafficked, then great because human trafficking is known to exist in this country and it's best not to be blind to that fact. As you surely know, there are many people who have taken after your stance--not only pretending that this is an innocent business, but pretending that this has strained police resources to the point that they aren't able to enforce other laws--do you feel as confident about your example and the possibility that you could be wrong? You could be encouraging people to turn a blind eye to a great evil (I would consider slavery a great evil) when it may have been more appropriate for you to ask on behalf of the people everywhere that the police investigate to the fullest to protect innocent people from this awful treatment. Hell, if your friends in the massage parlors are as good as you claim them to be, wouldn't they want to stamp out any association (which is a real association established by cases all over the globe) by eliminating the idea that they partake in such a heinous practice? If I'm wrong, what's the worst that happens? A few massage parlor owners, managers and workers have to deal with the inconvenience of being observed and arrested. Only five have shut down for good, so you can't say it's ruined so many businesses. If you are wrong then you've stood up for the rights of massage parlor owners over the rights of girls and women forced into prostitution against their will. I'm still much more comfortable with the risk that I'm wrong and you're right. If you think a lawsuit against the MPD by Valerie, the owner of an American spa, is going to justify your position, then you're short-sighted. When I wrote that article, there were nearly 20 AMPs. They've still only raided 11 of them. Of those, five have closed shop. That one--All-American Spa--being a simple, free-will whorehouse does not in any way mean that the obvious potential for human trafficking has been eliminated. All it means is that it isn't happening in that one. There are still about a dozen more. As for the cops focusing on so-called "real crimes"... A1) I am convinced that our police force NEVER STOPPED trying to keep people from shooting and killing other people. B2) I am convinced that it is the MPD's job to investigate the likelihood (based on the fact that in other cities with a disproportionate amount of AMPs also had human trafficking) of the enslavement and trafficking of girls and women is taking place inside city limits. I guess you can see where I stand. If you'd like to respond to me, please respond to the points I've made because I believe I've heard your argument clearly. If not, I'm open to hearing it. All I ask is that you breathe deeply and suppose for a moment that you could be wrong then weigh the consequences. Remember that it can take years to build a case (hasn't the indictment against C. Jack entered its second year?) and to explore the leads (it took the Telegraph months just to learn that it couldn't learn the identities or whereabouts of some of the business owners), so it would be foolhardy to rely SOLELY on your gut feeling from having talked to a handful of people on your visits to these AMPs. Hope you're doing well. Tell everybody I send my regards. Later, Chris