Two women have been charged with prostitution after they allegedly propositioned and sexually touched an undercover police officer at the Naperville massage parlors where they worked, according to police and court records.
Police began investigating after being alerted through citizen complaints that prostitution might be occurring at the businesses, police spokeswoman Kelley Munch said in an email.
Ping Jiang, 35, of Naperville, and Yingtao Zhu, 54, of North Aurora, were arrested Feb. 18 and charged with one count each of prostitution and practicing massage therapy without a license, both class A misdemeanors.
Jiang was arrested at 4 Seasons Spa, 424 Fort Hill Drive, and Zhu at U Massage, 160 Pebblewood Lane, records show. Both businesses were reached by phone Friday but declined to comment.
Charges filed in DuPage County Circuit Court allege Jiang and Zhu “fondled the genitals of the undercover detective and requested U.S. currency for a sex act.”
The arrests come in the wake of the Naperville City Council amending a city ordinance in January to mandate that massage businesses be required to obtain city permits and specifying that business owners can be held liable for staff who violate laws.
The new requirements do not go into effect until Aug. 1, however, and therefore have no bearing on these cases, Munch said.
Illinois law requires that massage therapists, masseurs and masseuses be licensed through the state. But without city permits or registration, it’s difficult to prosecute the owners of businesses where violations occur, Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres has previously said.
“Once the ordinance is in effect, however, it will give the city the authority to hold massage establishment owners accountable for any noncompliant massage therapists they employ or other violations of the ordinance,” Munch said.
Jiang and Zhu are next scheduled to be in court on March 18.
