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Tuesday, Jul. 22, 2008

Police arrest 12 in second round of Macon massage parlor busts

Chief: Several women detained were previously charged in first round

Macon police have arrested a dozen people in a second phase of an ongoing investigation into Macon's massage parlors.

Between July 15 and 17, undercover officers targeted several massage parlors within the city limits, police Chief Mike Burns announced Monday.

Five of the parlors were closed when police arrived. Employees at two parlors didn't solicit sex acts for money.

Arrests were made at five of the businesses.

"This is just the second phase of an ongoing investigation," Burns said. "The investigation is going to continue."

Burns said several of the women arrested had previously been charged with prostitution-related offenses in the first phase of the investigation on June 26 and June 27. Some of those arrests were made by the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.

At one massage parlor, All American Spa & Massage, 3892 Bloomfield Village Drive, Burns said officers visited on back-to-back evenings and made arrests.

"We found different people there and made arrests," he said.

At Q Spa, 4325 Log Cabin Drive, Burns said a man also was charged with impersonating a police officer after he presented himself as an officer to undercover officers investigating the massage parlor.

He said the man had bought his own equipment, even PD pins for his shirt collar.

Two women in last week's operation also were charged with sodomy and sexual battery, Burns said.

When asked about the nature of the women's arrests, Burns said the charges related to the officers but declined further comment.

Charges against two of the women, 39-year-old Bonnie Florence Bird of Houston, Texas, and 39-year-old Su Jin Cha of Macon, were dismissed last week in Bibb County Magistrate Court after the officer assigned to the case was too sick to appear in court, said Sgt. Melanie Hofmann, police spokeswoman.

She said warrants have been issued for the women's arrests.

In addition to her charges relating to the sting police are calling "Operation Massage Parlor," Cha also is being held on an outstanding deportation warrant, according to police.

She is being held at the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center without bond, according to jail records.

Hofmann said police did not arrest any customers as a part of the operation in large part because officers would have to catch them exchanging money for sexual acts.

"It's not illegal to have a massage," she said.

In preparation for the second phase of "Operation Massage Parlor," Burns said the department asked area agencies with knowledge of sex abuse and sex trafficking to lend their expertise to the investigation.

"We decided to approach this one a little different," Burns said.

Representatives assisted from the Crisis Line & Safe House of Central Georgia, Mercer Sex Trafficking Opposition Project and Tapestri - an Atlanta-based nonprofit social service agency.

Burns said Tapestri will be returning to Macon to train officers on how to recognize victims of human trafficking.

Although officers will be trained about human trafficking and experts in the field were consulted for the investigation, Burns declined to comment about whether Macon's massage parlors are a haven for traffickers.

Arrested were:

JULY 15

• Ina Cha Brito, 63, of Norcross, at Tokyo Health Spa, 2790 Riverside Drive, on charges of keeping a house of prostitution. Brito was released at 6:15 a.m. July 16 on $650 bond, according to jail records. She was previously arrested June 27 at Tokyo Health Spa for keeping a house of prostitution, according to police.

• Trinh Thi Ncoc Mai, 59, of Fayetteville, N.C., at Ultimate Spa, 3355 Pio Nono Ave., on charges of prostitution. Mai was released at 8:04 a.m. July 16 on $650 bond, according to jail records.

• Muoi Thi Huynh Wheless, 65, of Fayetteville, N.C., at Ultimate Spa, on charges of keeping a house of prostitution. Wheless was released at 7:52 a.m. July 16 on $650 bond, according to jail records. She previously was arrested June 27 at Ultimate Spa for keeping a house of prostitution, according to police.

• Ty Thi Nguyen, 50, of Fremont, Calif., at VIP Spa & Relaxation, 3266 Pio Nono Ave., on charges of keeping a house of prostitution, prostitution and sexual battery. Nguyen was released at 7:42 a.m. July 16 on $3,050 bond, according to jail records. She previously was arrested by the Bibb County Sheriff's Office on June 26 at Thailand Spa, 4378 Pio Nono Ave., and was charged with prostitution, according to police.

JULY 16

• Bonnie Florence Bird, 39, of Houston, Texas, at Q Spa, 4325 Log Cabin Drive, on charges of sodomy, prostitution and keeping a house of prostitution. Bird was released when her charges were dismissed July 18, according to jail records.

• Su Jin Cha, 39, of Macon, at Q Spa, on charges of prostitution. Cha is being held at the Bibb County jail on an outstanding deportation warrant, according to police. She previously was arrested June 7 at Q Spa and charged with prostitution, according to police.

• Kwan Yong Lee, 42, of Macon, at Q Spa, on charges of impersonating an officer. Lee was released at 4:34 a.m. July 17 on $650 bond, according to jail records.

• Brandi Tonneck Edwards, 24, of Macon, at All American Spa & Massage, 3892 Bloomfield Village Drive, on charges of keeping a house of prostitution. Edwards was released at 2:26 a.m. July 17 on $650 bond, according to jail records.

• Valerie Simmons Milner, 43, of Chamblee, at All American Spa & Massage, on charges of keeping a house of prostitution. Milner was released at 2:37 a.m. July 17 on $650 bond, according to jail records.

• Rhama Geraldine Neisler, 17, of Macon, at All American Spa & Massage, on charges of masturbation for hire. Neisler was released at 3:50 a.m. July 17 on $650 bond, according to jail records.

JULY 17

• Rykiel Ronkeshia Curry, 21, of Macon, at All American Spa & Massage, on charges of masturbation for hire. Curry was released at 1:43 a.m. July 18 on $650 bond, according to jail records.

• Cory Dewayne Fruster, 28, of Sharpsburg, at All American Spa & Massage, on charges of keeping a house of prostitution. Fruster was released at 3:06 a.m. July 18 on $650 bond, according to jail records.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.