PT’s Showclub, a “gentlemen’s club” in south Denver, received a 14-day suspension of operations order following allegations dancers were engaging in prostitution

The Denver Department of Excise and Licenses issued a settlement agreement to Evans Dining Service Inc. — the corporation that owns and operates PT’s Showclub at 1601 W. Evans Ave. — on Monday following the city attorney’s office’s request for disciplinary actions earlier this year.

As part of the settlement, the club officials admit that the business violated their policies and committed violations of soliciting or engaging another for purposes of prostitution, conduct of establishment and prostitution prohibited, according to the settlement agreement by executive director Molly Duplechian. The penalty includes the closure of PT’s Showclub for 14 days, from Jan. 2 to 15.

Along with the closure, a possible 20-day suspension of PT’s liquor license and a one-year suspension of its adult cabaret license will be placed in abeyance. The business will receive the suspensions if it violates any related laws within a year of the agreement on Nov. 27.

The suspensions stemmed from an operation conducted by the Denver Police Department’s Vice Team on March 31. The department had received an anonymous tip in January that employees of the club were offering to perform sex acts for money, and older members of the club pressured younger dancers into having sex for money, according to the initial show cause order issued by the Department of Excise and Licenses in July.

An undercover officer went into PT’s on May 31 and was offered sex by an employee for $600. The employee was arrested on charges of prostitution. Another undercover officer was touched on his genitals by an employee without warning, according to the show cause order. That employee was cited for public indecency, but pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace, according to the DDLE.

Both former employees are now permanently banned from entering the premises, according to the settlement agreement.

The business has never faced allegations of prostitution during the 17-years that the business license has been active, according to a Nov. 16 letter from the City Attorney’s Office.

The specific license has only been disciplined twice — once in 2016 for an underage alcohol sale and once in 2020 for a violation of Denver’s COVID-19 public health orders. Both of these violations were under different ownership and management, according to the letter.

The letter also noted that the City Attorney’s Office and DPD held a follow-up investigation, looking into allegations that older members of the club pressured younger dancers into prostitution.

The investigation — which included “outreach attempts” to current and former employees — did not yield “any evidence linking the events which gave rise to this action with any of the respondent’s owners or managers,” the letter said.

DPD has also conducted other undercover operations since the show cause order, none of which have resulted in new violations, the letter said.

A person who answered the phone at PT’s Showclub declined comment on the settlement and penalties.