This article was originally published by The Houston Chronicle.

Houston hosts hundreds of massage parlors described in sleazy online sex forums like RubMaps.com that generate about $107 million in illicit revenues each year, according to a new study by Vanessa Bouche, a Texas Christian University political science professor and human trafficking expert.

Erotic pseudo spas both here and in other U.S. cities often serve as fronts for sophisticated multinational human trafficking rings that import and exploit mostly Asian victims, often from China or Thailand, according to U.S. State Department reports, federal court cases and other studies.

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Lise Olsen is deputy investigations editor and senior investigative reporter at The Houston Chronicle. 

This article was originally published by The Houston Chronicle.