A New York senior is facing multiple charges for allegedly running an illicit spa offering sexual services in Maryland.
Yang Jiang, 63, reportedly operated the spa in the 14800 block of Physicians Lane in Rockville, Montgomery County.
Police began investigating in November after discovering ads that promoted “scantily clad Asian women in lingerie on a website known to solicit prostitution.”
Male clients were reportedly spotted entering and leaving the spa.
A search warrant was obtained on Dec. 28 and carried out on Jan. 4.
One sex trafficking victim told investigators Jiang had hired her to provide massage services and that she could make more money by offering sexual services. More are believed to have been victimized.
Jiang was arrested on prostitution charges on Jan. 4, and is also facing two counts of sex trafficking.
Montgomery Police Chief Marcus Jones said Jiang’s arrest marked the county’s third in recent months involving an illicit spa and human trafficking.
This underscores the real and rising threat posed by human trafficking in the region. Victims of human trafficking are not always forced into trafficking by brute, physical means. Victims are often coerced into being trafficked over a period of time through deliberate, psychological tactics used by their traffickers, so the signs of trafficking may not always be obvious.
In 2019, another Rockville massage parlor with an all-female, Chinese immigrant staff was also found to have offered sexual services.
The owner, Emily Zhang Lawrence, pleaded guilty the following year to running the “house of prostitution.”
Anyone with information in Jiang’s case is asked to call the Montgomery County Department of Police Vice and Intelligence Unit at 240-773-5958. Victims of sex trafficking are encouraged to contact the police or the Montgomery County Crisis Center at 240-777-4000.
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