A strip club on the city’s south side will shut down for two weeks in January after an undercover police operation determined that dancers there were engaged in prostitution.
PT’s Showclub, at 1601 W. Evans Ave., will be closed between Jan. 2 and Jan. 15 under an agreement the club reached with the City Attorney’s Office on Monday. In that agreement, the club admits there was prostitution and solicitation of prostitution at PT’s one night this year.
PT’s must also ban two former dancers/prostitutes from its club, require its manager take a course on human trafficking, and ensure there is video surveillance of all private dance areas. Another violation within the next year will result in a 20-day closure, the city said.
This week’s settlement stems from a sting operation March 31 in which a dancer offered to have sex with an undercover Denver Police Department officer for $600. That dancer was arrested, as was a second dancer who fondled a uniformed officer during the bust.
The settlement is between PT’s Showclub and the City Attorney’s Office but had to be approved by the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses. Assistant City Attorney Gennevieve St. Leger asked the department to approve their proposed settlement in a letter Nov. 16.
“In the 17 years that this particular license has been active, the (club) has never faced allegations of this nature,” St. Leger said.
Another point in PT’s favor, she said, was that “DPD’s Vice Team has performed multiple undercover operations at the establishment” since the March sting operation, “and none of these operations resulted in any new prostitution-related violations.”
In addition to better surveillance, PT’s will prohibit dancers from bringing purses into private areas, which will make it harder for them to store condoms, and has already shortened one wall of its private dance area to let managers see in, according to St. Leger.
“The City Attorney’s Office recognizes that the severity of the allegations in this matter warrants a decisive response,” she wrote to Excise and Licenses. “With that being said, the CAO feels that the terms…will adequately prevent future violations of this nature.”
RCI Hospitality Holdings, of Houston, bought PT’s and four other strip clubs here in 2021. A spokesman and attorney for RCI declined to comment on the settlement.
This story was reported by our partner BusinessDen.
