A massage parlor at Thurston St. Months later, it is open again and neighbors are concerned about it. An illegal massage parlor in the Hanestown neighborhood that was raided by Winston-Salem Police in September has reopened. On Sept. Seven women are facing prostitution charges in connection with massage parlors in the Triad, Gastonia, Union County, Charlotte and South Carol….
Eight months after Liu was arrested, the parlor is open and a woman answered the door and offered massage services to a Journal reporter. On Wednesday afternoon, the same woman answered the door and told the Journal that the house was not a massage business.
The parlor is across the street from other businesses, such as an accounting firm and a beauty salon. The woman, who asked not to be identified, said men have often approach the front and back doors of her business. Directly across the street from the parlor is Babe Cave Beauty, a beauty salon. Pedraza said that one time a customer of the parlor walked into the salon and attempted to get into a room with her.
Six other women were arrested in September on prostitution charges in connection with massage parlors in the Triad, Gastonia, Union County, Charlotte and South Carolina. Investigators with the Forsyth County Drug Task Force said in a press release announcing the arrests that they had looked into complaints about the parlors operating in Winston-Salem residential neighborhoods.
Women who are trafficked into massage parlors are usually between 35 and 55 years old and are mostly immigrants from China and South Korea, according to the Polaris Project, a nonprofit non-governmental organization that works to combat North American sex and labor trafficking. Both Liu and Chen are represented by a defense attorney named Harold Eustache. Eustache also represented two women who were arrested in Greensboro as part of the September investigation.
