Newark-area massage parlor under fire for prostitution claims

The state is asking a court to shutter a Newark-area massage parlor after undercover police were repeatedly offered sex acts in exchange for cash, the Attorney General's Office said Wednesday. 

The AG's office wants the state Superior Court to declare the Rose Spa on Old Baltimore Pike a criminal nuisance and to forbid its owner from operating there or elsewhere in the state. 

The defendants in the Department of Justice complaint, filed on Nov. 29, are property owners Stella Family Enterprises and tenant Ji Long Zhao, who each face two counts of maintaining a nuisance property.

On Thursday, the state Department of Justice clarified Stella Family Enterprises is included in the complaint "as a matter of establishing jurisdiction over the property." It acknowledged the property owner has "engaged in an action — contested by the current tenant — to evict the Rose Spa."

The Department of Justice said the complaint is being amended to reflect these facts.

The complaint alleges that between September and October of 2016, Delaware State Police conducted prostitution investigations at the spa, and on more than one occasion, undercover officers were offered sex acts in exchange for additional payment. 

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Two employees were arrested in October 2016 and determined to be victims of human trafficking during a 2017 trial, according to the complaint. They were acquitted of prostitution charges.

Another undercover officer visited in August and, after paying the additional fee requested for sex acts, left like the other police agents without receiving those services, according to the complaint.

Though Rose Spa maintains a legitimate website that advertises typical spa services, ads for the business that appear on backpages.com and spahunter.com are less innocent. 

A backpages.com ad posted in February 2016 promises "sensual Asian touch" and warns customers not to "miss out the fun [sic]." A video on the ad contains text advertising legal spa services, such as deep tissue and hot stone massages laid over videos of pretty, scantily dressed Asian girls.

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Calls made to Rose Spa on Wednesday afternoon were not answered, and the business was closed Wednesday afternoon.

Before the DOJ refined its public stance on the issues, an attorney representing Stella Family Enterprises pushed back and said his client has been defamed.

"We have serious issues with attorney general's action in this matter," attorney Bill Rhodunda Jr. said in an email. "For them to include us in this legal matter with the tenant's issue is ridiculous."

Rhodunda said Stella Family Enterprises, which owns the shopping center where Rose Spa is located, filed a lawsuit to get that tenant removed as soon as they learned of criminal activity there. He said that lawsuit went to trial and is awaiting a judge's verdict. 

Rhodunda said his client was working with the Attorney General's Office on the matter.

My clients are pleased that the Department of Justice has revised the Complaint to confirm that the target of the law suit is the Rose Spa, a Tenant, not my clients," he said in an email. "My clients will continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice on this matter."

Contact Adam Duvernay at aduvernay@delawareonline.com or (302) 319-1855 or @duvINdelaware.