Sex-trafficked Chinese women were living in massage parlors in Lake Oswego and West Linn, prosecutor says - OregonLive

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A Clackamas County prosecutor last week told a judge that the list of defendants indicted for allegedly sex-trafficking women from mostly China and compelling them to live in two massage parlors – one across the street from a Lake Oswego elementary school and the other along West Linn’s main thoroughfare – has grown to eight.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Rusty Amos said Chinese nationals were brought to Floral Spa at 15630 Boones Ferry Road, across the street from Lake Grove Elementary, and to YoYo Spa at 21510 Willamette Drive. Amos said the women appeared to be part of a national network that shipped them from state to state and directed them to have sex with men while living in the massage parlors, which were both situated in strip malls.

“This was a network of individuals who were transporting and replacing women every 30 days who were working at the spa, quite a few who were brought here from the country of China,” Amos told a judge at a defendant’s arraignment last week. “A lot of these folks are associated with spas up and down the West Coast.”

Lake Oswego Police Sgt. Tom Harper said he believes this is the first such operation city police have uncovered in the 26 years he’s been policing the upscale community with many of the state’s most expensive residences. Harper said the operation came to light after a Lake Oswego detective attended a training about prostitution rings that present themselves as legitimate businesses. The detective then noticed Flora Spa.

Mei Zhao, 51 of Arizona, is accused of three counts of promoting prostitution -- essentially sex-trafficking women at massage businesses in Lake Oswego or West Linn. Zhao appear via video at Clackamas County Circuit Court Wednesday, April 9, 2024. Her lawyer said she is accused of having a less significant role compared to her co-defendants.Beth Nakamura


The true intent of at least one of the businesses also became clear online, with one person posting online about how “exhausting” it’s been to find massage businesses with beautiful women. “Just curious, are there any shops in Portland that reliably have younger attractive women?” the person asked. “In my experience I’ve only seen two that were realistically in their 20s and attractive: once at YoYos Spa in West Linn (but never again).” The person then went on to mention a Northeast Portland business with an attractive “lady” but complained “those walls are paper thin.”

Oregon Secretary of State business registry records show Flora Spa was incorporated in May 2023 and YoYo Spa for a short stint in 2022, followed by a closure and a reopening sometime after November 2023. Records list a person, Jingxiang Yang, as the owner. Both businesses are now closed.

Yang hasn’t been charged with any crime. The following defendants have been indicted for allegedly promoting prostitution, compelling prostitution or both: Jing Xu, Jinen Ma, Xiaoping Chen, Zewu Hu, Mei Zhao, Qi Hui Huang, Li Hua Lin Kelsey and Changhui Liu. The first trial dates have been set for June but likely will be delayed.

— Aimee Green covers breaking news and the justice system. Reach her at 503-294-5119, agreen@oregonian.com or @o_aimee.

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