Officers busted a massage parlor at Fresno and Gettysburg this week, and found evidence that young immigrant women from China may have been forced to work as prostitutes at the New China Massage parlor at Fresno and Gettysburg.
We've been told it was a busy place, with customers coming in every half an hour, day and night. With different groups of young Asian women providing massages, and police say prostitution.
By the signs in the window it looks like a place to get a foot massage. But Fresno Police believe this place was selling sex.
"Numerous complaints and tips that there may be illegal activity going on, specifically prostitution," said Jeff Cardinale, Fresno Police Spokesperson.
Massage parlor busts are nothing new. In recent years Police in Fresno, Clovis and Visalia have discovered some parlors are fronts for prostitution. But in this case it appears the prostitutes may be victims as well. Police believe that just as young women from China have been pressed into prostitution in San Francisco and Los Angeles, it's happening in the Fresno area.
"There's some concerns about human trafficking here," Cardinale said.
That's not a surprise to women's advocate Patsy Montgomery. "Who is being trafficked. It's often people who are young. It's often women and they are often doing menial work for no money at all and that is slavery."
Montgomery believes along with prostitutes and massage parlor workers, there are many others from Asia and Latin America pressed into forced labor. "The sex slave industry, or as a domestic worker, in agriculture, all areas where they are vulnerable."
Fresno police are conducting an extensive investigation. They arrested one owner of this business, and one worker. They are looking for another girl, but witnesses say there has been a constant turnover of Chinese girls here every week for months. Witnesses also say they roamed the parking lot trying to attract customers. But Police believe most didn't volunteer to be prostitutes.
"Then when they get here they don't realize what they are getting themselves into and by that time it's too late. And they are really taken advantage of and unfortunately it looks like that was the case here," Cardinale said.
Police believe the women that worked here arrived in Los Angeles from China and are then circulated to massage parlors throughout Fresno, the valley and the state.
