Records: Arrested massage parlor owner has two illicit spas in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- An arrest affidavit obtained by 13 Investigates reveals the Rose Spa massage parlor owner accused of keeping a place of prostitution owns another illicit spa in Colorado Springs.
Police said they had enough probable cause evidence gathered to arrest the Rose Spa owner, 55-year-old Xinan Xia, on charges of pimping, money laundering, and keeping a place of prostitution.
CSPD investigators said no women were arrested in the sting and are presumed to be victims of human trafficking.
Xia also owns Energy Day Spa on N. Carefree Drive, according to court records. Energy Day Spa also has a lengthy history of sexual reviews posted online about the parlor.
According to CSPD, detectives began an investigation into the Rose Spa massage parlor in May, after receiving numerous tips about acts of prostitution being offered to customers. Police served a search warrant at the spa in July.
Court records reveal vice investigators went into Rose Spa after a woman working inside admitted to an undercover detective that he could receive sexual services for an additional $50.
It wasn't the first time Rose Spa has been in trouble for prostitution. Police noted in the affidavit that they made similar arrests back in 2015.
"Often they have been victimized by human trafficking their whole life," Lt. Dough Trainer said.
According to court records, one woman told police she had been paid a little more than $1,000 while working at Rose Spa.
Two of the women from Rose Spa and one from Day Energy Spa had apparently lived with Xia. One woman told police Xia deducted $10 a day from her salary for food and rent.
“I don’t know. Sometimes no break. No time off but I feel very tired. I want time off," one of the women told a detective when asked if she had days off.
13 Investigates went to the apartment where they were living to try and speak with the women on Wednesday but no one answered the door.
Rose Spa was featured in the KRDO NewsChannel 13 special investigative series, Hiding in Plain Sight, spotlighting prostitution and human trafficking in the Colorado Springs area.
Lt. Trainer says Rose Spa is just one of more than two dozen illicit spas in Colorado Springs.
"Probably a good estimate would be 30 that the unit is aware of. So that's a considerable number certainly for our city," Lt. Trainer said.
13 Investigates found 22 spas in the Colorado Springs area with explicit sexual reviews posted in the last three months.
"What are we doing to crack down on it, so to speak? Yesterday would be a perfect example to ensure that we do in-depth cases, solid cases where individuals are being arrested for felony crimes as opposed to the misdemeanors. To hopefully to deter any of the other businesses that would be doing the same kind of activity," Trainer said.
City Council President Richard Skorman told 13 Investigates the city is working on getting these illicit spas shut down for good. Skorman said the city initially tries to work with property owners to evict them. A Colorado Springs public nuisance ordinance can be used to kick the spas out if they have two incidents of prostitution. However, Skorman said he wasn't sure how many times the ordinance had been enforced against the spas.
