Attorney says state cast net too wide in Asian massage parlor raids - Springfield News-Leader

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Attorney Will Worsham discusses the accusations against his client. Harrison Keegan/News-Leader

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Angel Massage at 1774 1/2 S. Grant Ave. is one of more than a dozen Asian massage parlors in Greene County raided as part of a sex trafficking probe on Thursday.(Photo: Andrew Jansen/News-Leader)Buy Photo


An attorney representing one of the Asian massage parlors raided by police this month said Friday that some of the accused business owners are innocent.

Attorney Will Worsham represents Hui Otis with Angel Massage on South Grant Avenue, one of more than a dozen massage parlors targeted by law enforcement on July 20 as part of what authorities called a human trafficking and prostitution investigation.

"We just believe in the rush to scoop up as many people as they could, they’ve gotten some people that actually are innocent," Worsham said after a court appearance on Friday.

Otis has not been criminally charged, but her business is one of six that has been under a temporary restraining order, which Greene County Circuit Judge Michael Cordonnier extended an additional 10 days on Friday.

The restraining order essentially says the businesses are not allowed to engage in any illegal activity.

Worsham said his client is able to stay open, but the allegations have hurt her business.

"When a temporary restraining order is filed, especially when it receives this type of media attention, even an innocent person is tainted by the mere allegations," Worsham said. "And it makes it difficult for them to resume business."

Worsham said Otis does not know any of the suspects in the case, and she was "quite appalled" when she learned about the accusations against her business.

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Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley said it's believed women from China or east Asia were held against their will at these businesses as part of one large trafficking ring. Giacomo Bologna


"We’re looking at possibly some guilt by association," Worsham said. "Simply because perhaps my client is Asian and operated a massage parlor, there were some assumptions made that illegal activity was happening with, at this point (based on) what we’ve seen from the state, scant if any proof."

Attorney Bryan Fisher also said after Friday's court appearance that his client, Phoenix Oriental Massage LLC, was not involved in human trafficking.

So far, authorities have announced misdemeanor charges against nine people in connection with the case. Only one of the search warrants from the July 20 raids had been unsealed as of Friday afternoon.

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