MEET ‘John’. He’s in his 60s, divorced, and he gets paid to have sex with prostitutes. John is a brothel buster. Actually, “more often than not it’s just a handjob”, he points out.

John is one of a small group of licensed private investigators who are called upon by councils all over the state to root out evidence of illegal sex work by posing as regular customers.

“I’m sure plenty of fellas would be a bit envious of how I’m earning a bit of pocket money from time to time,” he tells news.com.au. So it’s a pretty good retirement gig? “Oh, most definitely.”

John speaks in the kind of conspiratorial, slightly sheepish tone you might expect from a guy who gets paid by ratepayers to engage in sexual services — like he can’t quite believe his luck, and doesn’t know how long the party is going to last.

He prefers not to say how much he gets paid, but he’s “not driving around in a Porsche or anything”, he stresses. “It’s certainly not a huge amount. But I’m being paid to do something most people pay good money for.”

While he doesn’t broadcast what he does for work, he says one of his two adult sons knows. “He was amused, and quite impressed,” he says. “I’ve told a couple of people, but it’s not the sort of thing you admit if you roll into a pub and somebody asks you what you do for a job.

“I don’t broadcast it because it is a little bit unbelievable to be involved in this sort of work. But it is quite enjoyable.”

The number of unlicensed brothels operating in NSW has exploded since the decriminalisation of the sex industry in the 1990s, creating a major headache for local councils and the state government.

Most present themselves as therapeutic massage businesses, which makes obtaining proof of sex work difficult.

Authorities have very limited power to access premises without a court order, so many are forced to pay private investigators to go undercover and report back with their evidence — in highly graphic, forensic detail.

John says his reports can run for up to three pages. Dates, times, people, places. Who, what, when, where, how much.

“It’s a document that will be used in court, so it has to be pretty detailed and very accurate. It’s not something you can waddle off in a couple of minutes,” he says.

This bizarre situation was brought to light again in the past week, when Hornsby Council lost a landmark legal battle with a local massage parlour after spending upwards of $100,000 on such an investigation.

In its judgment, the court found the council’s evidence of sexual services being offered fell short of the legal definition of “brothel”, which involves more than one prostitute using the premises at any one time.

“To have to invest ratepayers’ money to pay private investigators to have sex with prostitutes is, in itself, ludicrous. But to now have to send two, three, even four men in is bordering on the unbelievable,” Hornsby Councillor Nick Berman told Fairfax Media.

Last month, News Corp revealed that one of Sydney’s swankiest high-rise developments was a hotbed of illegal sex work, with a number of unlicensed brothels openly operating out of the complex.

Residents at Chippendale’s Central Park were highly critical of the City of Sydney Council for demanding they front up the cash for a private investigator, when other councils around the state choose to pay.

Lachlan Jarvis, managing director of private investigation firm Lyonswood, says roughly 10-12 councils around the state engage undercover sex investigators, and only in NSW.

“We have quite a number of reliable council clients who call on us to investigate premises operating contrary to the law,” he says. “Some engage us fairly regularly, some only occasionally. Some seem to have more of a problem than others, and some seem to police it more rigorously.

“We’ve done it for some years, and there’s a fair bit of work in it. It’s very straightforward: we get instructions either from the council or a law firm representing the council to go in and endeavour to obtain evidence.

“The instructions are, if sexual services are on offer, to engage in those sexual services for the payment of money. That’s the best form of evidence.”

Lyonswood has two or three licensed investigators who do this work, and one who does the bulk of it, he says. “We prefer people who are single, and obviously they have to be willing to undertake sexual activity.”

Mr Jarvis says it’s a necessary service. “I’m not surprised that some people would say that spending ratepayers’ money on the services we provide is outrageous, but they don’t understand that we help stop sex trafficking, for example.”

While it’s only a small component of the business, brothel busting is reflective of the broader kind of work Lyonswood does, Mr Jarvis adds.

“There are problems that arise where lawyers can’t help, police can’t help, friends and colleagues can’t help. It’s often a problem people can’t solve themselves. Sometimes you need a licensed expert, and in those circumstances, a private investigator may be able to help.”

As for John, he says he considers himself incredibly lucky. “It’s not your typical nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday job. There are no time constraints, and there’s never been a stage where I’ve felt threatened or worried about my safety.”

Which is not to say it doesn’t cross his mind. John says the first time he had to appear in court to give evidence, he was extremely nervous.

“These places are operating illegally, and there’s quite a bit of money going through them. That’s what I was worried about when I was going to give evidence the first time in court, whether organised crime was involved. Nobody knows.”

For the past four years, John says he’s averaged around one “job” every three weeks, usually at one of the countless Asian massage parlours dotting Sydney’s streets.

Walk down busy George Street in the CBD, for example, and it seems like there is one every 50 metres. According to John, they “most definitely” all provide sexual services of one kind or another.

“If you looked hard enough, you might be able to find a massage parlour that doesn’t offer sexual services,” he says. “In my experience there have only been three premises where I have gone in and not been offered that service some time during the course of the treatment.”

While sometimes the operator might offer intercourse, “more often than not it’s just a handjob”, John says. “They just want to get it over and done with and get the next one in.”

Until the Hornsby case, that was all that was required to prove the premises was operating illegally. That decision has thrown the future of this kind of work into question.

Hornsby Council told Fairfax Media its Planning Division was lobbying the NSW Department of Planning and Environment for an “urgent review” of the legislative definitions of a brothel.

“I was quite surprised by that ruling,” John says. “I don’t know how it’s going to affect the councils, how effective this kind of work is going to be in the future.”

Lyonswood’s Lachlan Jarvis says while he’s “not in the business of questioning the judiciary”, it does seem like “quite a high test”.

“There’s going to be an outcry,” he says.

frank.chung@news.com.au