Woman arrested for prostitution at a Cedar Rapids massage ... - KCRG

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG-TV9) -- Cedar Rapids police have arrested 51-year-old Zhang Hongli for prostitution at a local massage parlor.

Hongli faces two charges. One for offering sex services, and another for not have a valid license for massage therapy.

Her arrest came just a week after KCRG-TV9 reported on illicit massage parlors in the Cedar Rapids area. Police had said then that it's difficult to make an arrest in these situations. Hongli is from Texas.

Police say the incident happened at Spa Magic at 2323 Mount Vernon Road SE. Some people in the neighborhood say they are shocked.

Resident Louis Brown says, "Just from the movies you know things you see from movies and stuff like that. I didn't think this happened in a town like this."

Pastor Christian Shields with Chains Interrupted counters, "There's 19 in Cedar Rapids. 19 right now open massage parlors where you can go to get services from women. Illegal services."


Shields says their human rights group is working with police to crack down on prostitution at massage parlors. Shields is shifting his focus to stopping the demand.

He says, "We need to scare guys. Who are looking to pay for these kind of services? They need to be afraid, they need to know that there's consequences. They need to know that they could be walking into a sting."

Melita Barva owns Table for one massage therapy in Cedar Rapids. She says of the arrest, "If we can set out egos aside, the main problem here isn't prostitution and how it's gonna hurt us and our legitimate (massage) businesses. The problem here in my opinion is human trafficking, and that's the bigger story."

While it's unclear if the woman was a human trafficking victim, Shields says that does go on at some massage parlors.

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