South Carolina

Little River women among six charged in massage parlor sex sting in North Carolina

Six women from Little River and Flushing, New York were indicted Tuesday on charges including conspiracy, bribery and operating illegal massage parlors offering prostitution, according to a news release from United States Attorney’s Office.

They were arrested June 16-17 in connection to the sting, the news release, from the Eastern District of North Carolina, states.

According to court documents, Ok Hwa Lee and Shanyu Song, who said they live in North Myrtle Beach, JinHua Piao, XueJin Bai and Ming Ji Cao conspired to pay bribes to a police officer — posing as a corrupt law enforcement officer — to receive protection for the operation of illegal massage parlors in Cary, North Carolina and Wilmington, North Carolina, where sex acts were offered.

Xiang Yue Jin, who was charged separately, is accused of bribing an officer in hopes they would protect her massage parlor, where sex acts were being offered, the release states. She is charged with bribery and operating an illegal prostitution enterprise in interstate commerce.

The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the case along with Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office, the Cary Police Department, the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, the Wilmington Police Department, the Horry County Police Department, the United States Marshals Service, and other state and local investigators.

This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Little River women among six charged in massage parlor sex sting in North Carolina."

Gerard Albert III
The Sun News
Gerard Albert III writes about crime, courts and police for The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Albert was editor-in-chief at Florida International University’s student newspaper. He also covered Miami-Dade and Broward County for WLRN, South Florida’s NPR station.He is an award-winning journalist who has reported throughout South Florida and New York City. Hablo espanol.
David Wetzel
The Sun News
David Wetzel serves in both editor and reporter roles for The Sun News. An award-winning journalist, he has reported on all types of news, sports and features stories in over a decade as a member of the staff. Wetzel has won awards for sports column, feature and headline writing.
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