An east London body rub parlour has been stripped of its business licence after its owner's sexual assault convictions came to light.
City bylaw officers learned last Friday Abe Vergara, the owner of Sweet City at 609 Clarke Road, was convicted of six counts of sexual assault against employees. Three of the charges were laid in 2019 relating to incidents alleged to have occurred between 2002 and 2006. Two years later, Vergara was hit with more charges stemming from incidents inside the parlour between 2003 and 2004.
As a result of his conviction, city officials made the decision to suspend and revoke the body rub parlour's licence effective Tuesday.
“One of the key areas of focus in the city’s strategic plan is creating a safe London for women and girls,” said Orest Katolyk, the city's director of municipal compliance. “This strategic pillar is addressed through business licensing regulations and proactive compliance inspections focused on public health and safety.”
Sweet City was also recently issued four penalties for non-attendance of an operator on-site and for not producing attendant records. Those infractions were uncovered during a proactive business licence inspection blitz of adult body rub and live entertainment parlours by municipal bylaw officers. During the inspections, bylaw officers focused on record keeping, cleanliness and panic alarm testing at the adult establishments.
Sweet City was one of only six licenced body rub parlours in the city.
