Triad City Rhythm | Illegal massage parlors are a nationwide problem. What does Winston-Salem do about them?

Winston-Salem city leaders are updating the city’s laws to crack down on illegal massage parlors, which are places that offer sexual services while operating behind appearances, often claiming to be a legitimate business or running the operation from a home or hotel.

Meanwhile, many illegal lounges in the city and beyond are still open and operating. and industry makes billions of dollars Thousands of these businesses spread across the country every year.

During city council work public safety committee meeting On Oct. 14, Winston-Salem Police Department Detective Susan Warner, who specializes in human trafficking investigations, unveiled a proposed city bill that would require massage businesses to apply for permits, submit to background checks, submit lists of all employees providing massages. List of other massage establishments owned or operated by applicants and descriptions of other businesses controlled by applicants that will be operated on the same or adjacent premises.

Additionally, all massage therapists in NC must be licensed by North Carolina. Massage and Body Therapy Board operate legally.

“We’re going to work very closely with the state to make sure that the people who are employed in a massage parlor are, in fact, people who are certified to do that job,” Warner said.

Council members had a number of questions, but South Ward Councilman John Larson expressed concern about the use of the word “moral” in the language of the ordinance; This stated that the city “recognizes that the inappropriate practice of massage and body therapy is potentially harmful to the community.” people. In order to protect the public health, safety, welfare, and morals, the provisions and regulations of this chapter are provided for the privilege of conducting business, trade, or profession in which massage or other physical manipulation of the human body is performed or practiced. ”

“Are we in the business of dictating morality?” he asked.

After some back and forth, Southeast District Councilman James Taylor, Jr. “How time sensitive is this matter?” I asked City Attorney Angela Carmon. he asked.

“We can definitely keep it in committee for another month,” Carmon responded.

Why do these massage parlors exist?

In addition to operating in shopping malls or other business parks, illegal massage parlors often operate out of residences and neighborhoods. A quick search of websites offering sexual services shows addresses associated with single-family homes in Winston-Salem.

According to research by the Polaris ProjectThe organization that operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline finds that nearly all massage parlor trafficking victims in the United States have recently arrived from China or South Korea, are carrying debt or are under extreme financial pressure, speak little or no English, have a high level of at most They are schooled and mothers in their mid-thirties to late fifties. Most of the time, men who seek these services are not arrested and punished. More precisely, workers.

Additionally, the laws governing business registration are almost “tailor-made for massage parlor traffickers to hide behind.” article It was stated by Polaris. Sometimes these massage parlors pose as legitimate businesses, are licensed and registered as LLCs.

“Neither the states nor the federal government require people forming businesses to include the name of the actual owner of the business in the registration paperwork. What is actually required depends on the jurisdiction. Sometimes the owner’s name is left blank. Sometimes it is filled with the name of a registered agent or someone else who is paid to be the lead person or point of contact,” the article states.

Ben Holder is a former reporter. Carolina Peacemaker and an activist who has been fighting against illegal massage parlors for decades, said: TCB for his story About how Greensboro Police Department officers requesting services from workers and arresting them when they agree to carry them out or are in the process of carrying them out.

Holder argues that the problem, beyond taking advantage of a potential sex trafficking victim, is that GPD holds the individual employee responsible for a crime rather than holding the person who “runs” the “business” accountable.

GPD updated its policies to investigate illegal massage parlors shortly after this was discovered. Its instructions now state that “no police officer conducting an undercover operation shall intentionally touch a suspect’s genitals or allow a suspect to touch his or her own genitals.” GPD’s updated directives are fully linked Here.

Holder argues that law enforcement should go to these businesses and ask for their licenses. If they don’t have them, they can turn them off this way instead of requesting service. That’s what the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office did Goldsboro in AugustTwo men at DT Spa are accused of operating an unlicensed massage facility.

While Holder has concerns about the way the GPD conducts its investigations, what about the WSPD? In September 2023, a WSPD officer arrested a massage parlor employee, now 61, for “unlawfully and knowingly soliciting sexual acts as defined in GS 14-27.1.” money, according to court documents.

TCB He reached out to WSPD’s Public Information Officer Annie Sims about whether the department has directives to conduct such investigations and what they are, but she said she “cannot answer” because it pertains to “details pertaining to tactical/operational policy.”

What does an illegal massage parlor look like?

Most illegal massage parlors attract customers through online advertising services. One of these salons is called Rose Spa on Reynolda Road, and it is listed on the website FindTheSeven, which carries the slogan “Imagination Run Wild.” Details about Rose Spa state that it accepts “cash only” and is located at 5545 Reynolda Road. Fees are $50 for 30 minutes and $70 for an hour. TCB She texted the phone number associated with Rose Spa and received a response saying there were “two new girls” and that they were open from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., according to the N.C. Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy. search toolRose Spa does not have a proper license to operate in the state.

The business is also listed on SkipTheGames, a website that regularly posts advertisements for venues that include their ages, locations and phone numbers. The location at 5545 Reynolda Road notes things like “exotic PLAY” and “sexy 36DD.”

Dozens of mentions of Rose Spa and other salons can be found in the USASexGuide online community. Visitors are greeted by a slew of NSFW ads, and pop-ups fill the screen as they click from forum to forum. Site users call themselves “mongers” and advise each other on where to find escorts, hookups, illegal massage parlors and more. Mongering is referred to as a “hobby” in titles filled with acronyms for services like “HJ” and “BBBJ.”

On Winston-Salem’s forum you’ll find vendors discussing escorts, massage parlors, “street walkers,” strip clubs and more. There are hundreds of comments about massage parlors in the thread, often referring to “AMPs” or Asian massage parlors. And the services each salon or individual employee offers — like “FS,” which stands for “Full Service (full sex),” according to the site’s forum acronyms page — are the “menu.”

USASexGuide user “Urinal Cake” wrote a review of Rose Spa on September 16, 2023, placing it at #1 on the salon rankings list: “Rose Spa at Reynolda – this place just opened, I’ve only been there once, so I’m Just You-You girl = I will say yum yum.

A neighbor who lives nearby told TCB “Only men come in and out of there.”

“As far as I know, there is no garbage coming out of that place,” the neighbor said. “There is a box but it never seems to be there. The only thing that goes to the curb is the recycling bin.”

The neighbor also said there are around 15 cars coming to the house most days. However, from Friday to Sunday, this number reaches 20-25. The visiting men don’t hang around. “They get out of their car and go into the house,” the resident said, “and then they get in their car and drive away.”

There are many other places in Winston-Salem. Homes at 3005 Burke Mill Rd. and 2522 Weymoth Rd., both near Bethel Independent Methodist Church, also appear on their websites.

Another was called Aero Wellness. According to the NC Secretary of State’s online site limited company databaseRegistered as an LLC under Pencheng Xu at 173 Jonestown Road on January 25, 2023. It ranked 3rd on the Urinal Cake list. It was later re-registered as an LLC named “Aero Wellness S” at the same address in the name of Cai Yanqun on July 19, 2023.

Annual report status of both LLCs? Guilty.

On December 23, 2023, user “Rem1985” posted the following on USASexGuide: “The owner of Aero was arrested for promoting on the 15th. P2 C has information. The sign on the door says closed.”

of Winston-Salem police incident incident search vehicle It shows that Cai Yanqun was arrested on December 15th. Court records state that Cai Yanqun “is accused of promoting prostitution by controlling a place where prostitution occurs and providing shelter for the practice of prostitution.” Pencheng Xu formed a new LLC on August 9; it’s called the Inner Peace Spa and is located at: 6805 Gray Moss Ct. at Clemmons.

In a recent thread about massage parlor closures, user “EugeneSeeking” complained on September 25, 2023 that law enforcement should “Lay off hard-working women.” AMPs provide a much-needed outlet for men.” As reported TCBs piece for januaryMost of the time, the women who work in these salons are stuck or forced there due to debt or fear of deportation.

“The people doing the business are getting the short end of the stick,” Holder said, adding that those running these businesses “hide behind so many layers they’ll never get caught.” Women are “completely unimportant to everyone involved.”

The neighbor near Rose Spa added that she once told a woman she mistook her house for a living room, knocked on the door and called the “woman next door” her husband was seeing.

They also mentioned another incident. When police units arrived at another neighbor’s home, which had been broken into, “all of a sudden all the cars disappeared and not a single car showed up while the cops were here.” 20 minutes after the police left, cars started to appear again.

“That tells you everything you need to know: What’s going on there is absolutely illegal,” the resident said.

They say they didn’t tell police anything about the house because there wasn’t much evidence to confirm their suspicions.

They said, “It feels like a paranoid bucket full of nonsense coming out of my mouth.” TCB. “The garden is mowed, everything is kept clean, they are left on their own.”

“I don’t know what to think about this to be honest. I didn’t like it but….what do you say? How will you get rid of it? What are you doing?”

But this occupies their minds.

“I am horrifyingly aware when my children are in the garden…. “I consciously follow what is happening,” they said. “I will not turn my back on what happened”

If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, please National Human Trafficking Hotline By calling 1-888-373-7888 or texting 233733. It is confidential and operates 24/7. If you think you are in danger, call 911.