Oak Park pulls biz license after massage parlor bust - Wednesday Journal

[massage]

Sunny Spa permanently shut down after prostitution sting

Friday, December 28th, 2018 3:35 PM

Spa closed: Sunny Spa, 1053 Madison St., was closed permanently by the village of Oak Park after one of its employees was arrested for prostitution at the business. | Photo by Alexa Rogals



By Timothy Inklebarger

Staff Reporter


The Village of Oak Park has revoked the business license of Sunny Spa, a massage business at 1053 Madison St., after the business was busted for committing sex acts on an undercover police officer in November.

The village issued a press release on Dec. 19, noting that the business was closed permanently in a decision by Deputy Village Manager Lisa Shelley, following a decision in an administrative hearing on Dec. 17.

According to the administrative order released by Shelley, Sunny Spa was operating under the ownership of Chen's Massage Corp., owned by Xiuping Chen.

Oak Park police and the Cook County Sheriff's Department investigated the business and, according to the administrative order, the officer arrested Sunny Spa employee Hang Wa Wong on Nov. 14 and charged her with prostitution after "she touched a sex organ of the undercover officer in exchange for his payment for the massage."

Wong also was charged with conducting a massage without a license.

The order also notes that Chen violated the village's massage business ordinance by failing to "provide to the village or maintain an on-site list of licensed massage therapists" who work at the business.

Sunny Spa violated the ordinance by failing to post a current copy of the business's anti-sexual harassment policy in a conspicuous place and failing to maintain clear glass at the establishment's storefront.

Chen said at the administrative hearing that she had to tell employees "not to commit prostitution" and that she was not often present at the business.

The village and administrative judge determined that the business is a nuisance in that it "endangers the safety or health of the public" and "offends public decency."

The bust comes nearly a year after the Oak Park Board of Trustees approved a strict ordinance regulating massage businesses in the village. That ordinance was approved in response to another police sting in 2017, where three businesses were closed for performing sexual acts and operating without a license.

The village also revoked the business licenses of those three massage parlors in 2017. King Spa, formerly located at 6441 W. North Ave., was shut down after owner Tina King was charged with prostitution. Angel Spa, formerly at 1102 Chicago Ave., was also closed for prostitution, and Angel Spa, formerly at 6340 Roosevelt Road, was closed for operating without a license.

tim@oakpark.com


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