Horry County investigation used to seek closure of massage parlors handed over to feds
Twenty Horry County massage parlors are facing closure after being labeled a “nuisance,” and the trouble may be just beginning for the people behind those businesses.
The county, via Solicitor Jimmy Richardson, filed 20 separate requests in Horry County court on Thursday seeking to close the various parlors. Each is accused of having employees offer sexual services in exchange for money.
The actions follow a series of stories by McClatchy that explored the problem of human trafficking in South Carolina. Reporters at The Sun News and The State newspaper in Columbia investigated 18 of the 20 massage businesses Richardson is now trying to close.
Richardson said his office hired an outside investigator — who began visiting these businesses in March, according to court records — in response to numerous and continued complaints, which they always forwarded to police.
In each complaint, the county alleges that the detective went to the business posing as a customer on two separate occasions, and an employee offered sex acts in exchange for money during both visits. Some are also accused of having a “general reputation” on the internet for allowing sex in exchange for money.
Fourteen of the businesses have already closed, according to court filings, after their landlords were served with notice about two weeks ago that the business was a nuisance.
In early March, The Sun News published an article about potential human trafficking occurring at massage parlors in the county as part of a series with The State Newspaper on human trafficking in South Carolina.
The report detailed how police tend to charge the women working in these parlors with prostitution, while human trafficking advocates argue that those women — usually Asian women over 35 years old — are likely victims.
Polaris, a leading worldwide anti-human trafficking organization, published a report in 2018 about what it calls illicit massage businesses, finding that more than 9,000 such businesses operate nationwide earning about $2.5 billion in annual revenue.
The report also notes that just shutting down the businesses isn’t the answer because the owners can just move to a new location with a new name, and the women remain victims.
Richardson said his office considered this possibility before filing the complaints, and all information collected during their investigation has been handed over to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
He said any potential human trafficking investigation needs to be conducted by federal agencies as such cases likely involve actions across county, state and even national lines.
Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment about any potential investigation.
Of the six businesses included in the solicitor’s complaints that are still operating, three are in buildings owned via various LLCs by Timothy Baker, who spoke with The Sun News prior to the March article publishing.
Prostitution arrests had been made at two of those businesses, China Doll Spa and Sakura Spa, and Baker said he filed eviction notices against the operator, who was a woman named Maggie Yeung for both. Court records show both those eviction filings were dismissed without prejudice in March.
Little River attorney Kevin Hughes, who represented Yeung in those cases, declined to comment when reached via phone Friday. Hughes also represented several of the women who were arrested on prostitution charges at these parlors, according to court filings.
Baker, who did not immediately respond to a voicemail message seeking comment Friday, is also the property owner for alleged nuisance business Jingjun Yuan Massage in Murrells Inlet, the court records show.
The only other name that appears three times among these complaints is Samuel Owenby, of North Myrtle Beach. He is listed as the owner of Oasis Spa, where police arrested two women on prostitution charges earlier this year, including one woman on two separate occasions. Owenby bailed the women out in each instance, according to court records.
Owenby is also the owner of alleged nuisance businesses Samu Spa and AA Massage, both of which have closed along with Oasis Spa.
Owenby, reached by phone Friday, said he chose to temporarily close the businesses until he finds out what exactly is happening. He called the prostitution arrests at Oasis Spa “just accusations” and declined to comment further, but promised to issue a public statement after he speaks with his attorney.
This story was originally published August 9, 2019 at 3:06 PM.
