Updated: State seeks to declare Bear-area massage parlor a ‘criminal nuisance’

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A  complaint filed by the Attorney General’s Office is asking Superior Court to declare a Bear-area property housing the Rose Spa massage parlor a criminal nuisance because of prostitution arrests and possible ties to human trafficking.

The defendants, Stella Family Enterprises, LLC, the owners of the property, and tenant Ji Long Zhao each face two counts of Maintaining a Nuisance Property at 430 Old Baltimore Pike.

The AG’s office reported on Thursday that Stella has attempted to evict the massage parlor from the strip center that is close to large residential developments off Old Baltimore Pike.

Between September and October 2016, Delaware State Police conducted an investigation focused on the Rose Spa.

According to a court document, employees of the Rose Spa offered to perform sex acts for undercover officers in exchange for additional payment.

Two employees were arrested in October 2016, and at trial in the summer of 2017, the workers were determined to be victims of human trafficking.

In August of another Rose Spa employee offered sex acts for money, with an undercover officer paying the additional fee, but leaving after refusing the service, according to the document.

The complaint was filed under the state Criminal Nuisance Abatement Act, which gives the Attorney General the power “to authorize temporary and permanent abatement relief and other remedies to abate any criminal nuisance.”

The act has been used as a way to deal with houses and businesses tied to illegal activities.  The complaint asks the Court to:

• Prohibit the defendants and any other person from further maintaining a nuisance at the property or elsewhere in Delaware;
• Issue an order prohibiting all the defendants from engaging in business activities at the Old Baltimore Pike property
• Assess civil penalties