Sex trafficking task force arrests Waite Park massage parlor owner, boyfriend - Star Tribune

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Law enforcement authorities said Monday that they rescued a Waite Park massage worker who complained that she was held against her will and forced to provide sex acts to customers.

Waite Park Police Chief Dave Bentrud said members of the Central Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force arrested a 48-year-old woman who owns the business and her 49-year-old boyfriend, both of St. Cloud, on charges relating to felony promotion of prostitution. They were expected to be charged Monday in Stearns County District Court.

The Star Tribune generally does not identify criminal suspects unless they’ve been charged.

Bentrud said the arrests followed numerous complaints about possible illicit sex acts and other suspicious activity taking place at Oriental Massage, 125 Waite Ave North. A number of customers admitted to paying for sex acts at Oriental Massage, though none were charged, he said.

When Task Force investigators inspected the premises they found a female worker in her 40s who asked for help, Bentrud said. He said the woman, who is Chinese, had a green card allowing her to work in the United States, but complained that she was being held against her will, forced to work long hours and perform various sex acts.

As part of the criminal investigation, search warrants were obtained for the business as well as a mobile home in Riverside Trailer Park in St. Cloud, where the victim said she was forced to stay. Investigators are looking for another massage worker who they suspect also is a victim, Bentrud said.

Bentrud said the investigation is continuing and that other criminal charges, including federal labor trafficking, may be possible.

The Waite Park City Council last week revoked the license of Quiet and Serene Massage, also known as Q & S Massage, after an investigation by the Waite Park Police found illicit sexual activity in that business, according to the St. Cloud Times. No evidence of sex trafficking was found in that case.

Bentrud said Monday that the two businesses do not appear to be related to one another.

“I think there’s a lot of women being exploited in this way,” Bentrud said. “We have reason to believe there are others” in the St. Cloud metropolitan area, he added.

Such cases are difficult to investigate, Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall said in a recent interview.

“Everything tracks back to China,” she said, explaining that many of the women who are victims of sex trafficking are reluctant to testify.

Bentrud said it can be hard to maintain connections to the victims.

“They do appear to be very transient. They apparently move around the country a fair amount,” he said. “It does exacerbate the challenge of ultimately getting a successful prosecution of these cases. It’s really a tragic situation.”



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