This massage business is basically unmarked except for the open sign in the window. But police say the house is home to a woman offering sex for money. She was arrested Thursday, but she was released, and earlier Friday, she invited me inside.
The Evergreen Massage Parlor looked closed Friday morning right up until its owner, Xiuying Yang, opened the door and let me in. Cell phone video shows Visalia Police arresting Yang one day earlier on charges of solicitation of prostitution. But even after explaining to Yang I was there to talk about her arrest, she offered me a massage. I quickly left.
Sgt. Amy Watkins said, "That concerns me and it should concern other people in this community."
Visalia Police Sergeant Amy Watkins says the department received multiple complaints on the /*Evergreen Parlor*/ and the /*Rejuvenation Spa*/ on the east end of town. Code enforcement officers marked that business as unsafe for occupancy. Police arrested /*Shu Rong Jin*/ inside and found people living there without water or sewage. They're looking into whether the alleged prostitution is connected to immigration issues.
Sgt. Amy Watkins explained, "Some of these massage parlors, they have been identified with some human trafficking and that's absolutely another reason we're going after these massage parlors."
Undercover officers entered both parlors in question and say they got offers of sex acts for money. When I told Sgt. Watkins the arrests seemed to have little short-term effects, she told me the long term goal of getting prostitution out of Visalia is still intact.
"Prostitution in the state of California is a misdemeanor, so no, that doesn't surprise me when you tell me that," said Sgt. Amy Watkins. "But what I can tell you is this type of activity is not something that this community wants."
Police are still investigating the parlors and looking for possible Johns involved.
