Sex trafficking operation discovered at Tempe massage parlor
May 19, 2016, 5:12 PM | Updated: May 20, 2016, 8:03 am
(Tempe Police Department Photo)
A 10-month investigation by Tempe police and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office has found that a Tempe massage parlor has been offering customers something more than a massage.
The Amazing Spa Massage Parlor near Rural and Guadalupe Roads has been used for sex trafficking.
“The operators of this business were using young Asian females, predominantly from Korea and China,” said Tempe Police Lieutenant Michael Pooley to KTAR’s Martha Maurer.
The girls would work at the spa for 2-to-3 weeks, then would rotate to another location to work there.
Pooley did not say where the second location is. Other girls from Korea and China would then be brought in to work at Amazing Spa.
“The girls were performing sex acts to customers that were coming in from all over the valley,” Pooley said. “These girls were working seven days a week, 15 hours a day. They were seeing multiple clients on a daily basis and doing sex acts.”
Pooley says the girls were seeing very little money in return for their efforts. Most of the money was turned over to two people who ran Amazing Spa, Angela Chan and Kyoung Song.
“The young girls, they don’t know any better. They were being exploited for sex,” Pooley said. “Men from all different ranges of young, old, rich, poor, and very influential were coming here and taking advantage of these young girls.”
Pooley did not say whether any arrests have been made. He said that the business advertised on the internet, and many of the men involved have been identified during the course of the investigation. He added that more will be identified as the investigation continues.