Woman arrested in Idaho prostitution sting charged with witness intimidation, extortion
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Ruth Brown, Idaho Statesman
NAMPA — The owner of a Nampa massage parlor that was the subject of a prostitution sting in August has since been indicted on four counts of felony witness intimidation and three counts of grand theft by extortion.
Lynn X. Dicke, 57, was has ties to Idaho Falls, is the owner of Mia’s Massage, at 624 16th Ave. S in Nampa, and police initially arrested her on Aug. 21, along with six other women, on suspicion of prostitution, harboring prostitution and procurement of a prostitute.
All of the women arrested in the sting, four at Nampa massage parlors and three at Caldwell massage parlors, were adults, and police did not believe any of the women were being trafficked against their will.
One count of the indictment alleges that she asked a witness to say that she did not work for Dicke, and another count alleges that she asked a witness to say she did not engage in human trafficking in exchange for finding bail for that witness.
The grand theft by extortion charges stem from incidents in which Dicke allegedly asked people to deliver her money by instilling fear that if they did not, she would report them to immigration authorities or interfere with their asylum applications. One count alleges that Dicke made one woman fear that she would be reported to federal authorities and that she would not be given her work permit or passport if she didn’t give Dicke money.
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The indictment did not say how much money Dicke allegedly took from the women.
Dicke was a licensed massage therapist in Idaho, but the Bureau of Occupational Licenses revoked that license in September.
A copy of the probable cause affidavit after Dicke’s arrest in August alleges that she was offering sexual favors at her massage parlor in exchange for money.
The affidavit states that she also used to run Golden Massage, Swan Massage and Asian Massage, all in Nampa, and Good Day Massage and Sunny Massage, both in Caldwell, but transferred ownership to other people. She reportedly paid for the signage at all of those businesses.
Though Dicke no longer runs the other massage parlors, she was “still in constant phone contact with the new owners,” according to the affidavit. All of the parlors were targets in the prostitution arrests in August.
Nampa Police wrote in the affidavit that Dicke was the subject of “human trafficking investigations in Idaho Falls” but was never charged, as she “left the area and transferred ownership to the other girls.”
Dicke pleaded not guilty to all charges and remains in custody at the Canyon County Jail, with bond set at $950,000. Her next court date is March 10 at 9 a.m.
This article first appeared in the Idaho Statesman. It is used here with permission.