Jan. 17—EAU CLAIRE — A Wausau woman will spend two years on probation for a 2019 prostitution criminal case that shut down two Eau Claire massage businesses.
Dongmei L. Greer, 59, pleaded no contest Tuesday in Eau Claire County Court to a felony count of keeping a place of prostitution.
A second count of the same charge was dismissed but considered at sentencing by Judge Sarah Harless.
As conditions of probation, Greer was given the option of spending 30 days in jail or performing 240 hours of community service. She must also undergo any recommended programming or evaluations.
Eau Claire police say Greer was the license holder for two former businesses: Lucky Massage at 1041 N. Hastings Way and Angel Massage at 1219 Menomonie St.
According to the criminal complaint and Eau Claire police:
In April 2018, a man told police a female masseuse at Angel Massage attempted to engage in sexual contact with him during a massage. The man said he was getting massages for back and tension issues and was not interested in service that involved sexual contact.
The man was also concerned that there was human trafficking going on at the business.
In February 2019, an anonymous caller expressed concerns to police about losing business because Angel Massage employees were performing unspecified sex acts with their clients.
A man told police in March 2019 he had gone to Angel Massage 12 times over the past six months and that female employees performed sex acts on him. Every time he went there, he said, there were different Chinese women working.
The man said the massages would cost from $100 to $140. He admitted to spending $1,200 at the massage parlor over a six-month period.
The last time he went to the massage parlor in March 2019, the man said, a female employee told him "don't tell anyone about this."
Three other men stepped forward and expressed to police similar experiences at both Angel Massage and Lucky Massage. One of the men said it appeared that one or more of the employees may have been living at one of the businesses.
Story continues
Police then began a three-month investigation into the two massage businesses. They found 223 customers visited Angel Massage during a one-month period and only one customer was female.
Several Asian women were seen entering and exiting Greer's Eau Claire apartment. Police searched the apartment and found five beds in the two-bedroom apartment.
Two of Greer's employees told police they lived with Greer and occasionally also stayed at one of the massage businesses. They both denied offering any sexual services to clients.
A third employee told police three to five women stay at Greer's apartment at night.
Authorities executed search warrants at both massage businesses and Greer's apartment and recovered more than $13,000 in cash.