Mei Xing’s sex trafficking trial laid bare many secrets of the San Gabriel Valley’s massage parlors.
In a loud voice, the stout defendant described in Mandarin how it all worked — the $40 fee, the tips, the tracking of the cash. She placed “Masseuses Wanted” ads to find sex workers for the downscale massage parlors she ran in strip malls on the wide boulevards of the largely Asian and Latino suburbs just east of Los Angeles.
Xing’s testimony, from a witness box framed by white marble, would leave jurors confronting uncomfortable questions at the end of the three-week trial in June.Was Xing’s conduct as egregious as the government charged? She married Yuanjin Li, who would leave home for months at a time to work on fishing boats at sea, and they had a son. When Xing moved to the United States in 1997, she left the toddler with her mother in Tianjin.“I wanted to make money in the U.S.,” Xing testified. “I wanted to have my family have a better life.”“So you’re a grandmother?” Xing’s attorney Callie Steele asked.In her mid-30s, Xing settled in the San Gabriel Valley. She divorced Li and married an American.
In 2013, Xing opened her flagship business, Sunshine Massage, in a strip mall on Garvey Avenue in South El Monte. Red oval lanterns with golden tassels hung above the entrance. A sign in the glass door showed a woman’s hands kneading the shoulders of a smiling man. The storefront was painted red.Inside was a reception area with plastic plants and more Chinese lanterns. Along a dimly lit hallway were 13 private rooms with massage beds and mirrors on the wall.
The cost of a one-hour massage was $35, collected at the front desk upon entry. If the masseuse was licensed, Xing would pay her $15; if not, $10. Massage parlors can be shut down for offering sex, so Xing would remind employees: “We’re a massage parlor. We need to provide massage service.” Vaginal sex, known at Sunshine Massage as a “big job,” was a whole other matter. Xing would not only keep the entire $35, but also charge the masseuse $5 to ensure Xing got her full $40, she told the jury. The masseuse was expected to negotiate a minimum of $80 in tips she would keep.All of the masseuses preferred sex work over massage, according to Xing, because the tips were so much higher. A masseuse who went by “Luna” testified she typically earned $6,000 to $7,000 in tips per month.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: FoxNews - 🏆 9. / 87 Read more »
Source: nypost - 🏆 91. / 67 Read more »