Ventura County – By all appearances, the City of Camarillo, is a desirable suburban residential enclave, hardly the kind of place to find a business establishment perhaps better suited to a metropolitan “tenderloin” district…but appearances may be deceiving.
One of the more recent additions to the city’s business entities is “April’s Massage”, which first opened its doors on February 6th. As these things go, it generally takes a week or so for community code enforcement personnel to follow up on new enterprises. When the Camarillo Police Department’s Community Resource Unit and City Code Compliance staff personally stopped in at April’s Massage a month after their opening, what they found must certainly have raised some eyebrows.
According to Camarillo Police Department’s Sgt. John Franchi, “during the compliance check deputies learned that two employees of the business were performing massages without licensing or certification.” Further investigation of the premises indicated unpermitted structural interior changes, “including the installation of a large jetted tub (a ‘table shower’)” that had not been permitted.
Even more intriguing than plumbing violations, however, the deputies found numerous suitcases filled with personal belongings on the premises, giving rise to suspicions that “employees were living at the business,” a further violation of municipal code. Ensuing interviews of the employees on the premises indicated that the 17-year old daughter of an unlicensed masseuse was engaged in providing services. Franchi reported “she was in a closed room with a male client at the time of the compliance check,” and that the girl had been featured in a Craigslist posting describing her as “beautiful sweet cute attractive staff magical hands designed to meet your specific needs.”
The girls mother, Han Li, 45, was arrested and booked into Ventura County Jail on multiple charges, including child endangerment, while the proprietor, Jie Miao, 31, was cited on multiple code violations.
Photo: courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking
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Camarillo Acorn: Massage parlor under investigation
