These 2 Pierce County spas were fronts for prostitution, prosecutors say
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- Police raided two Lakewood spas after a six-month probe into alleged prostitution fronts.
- Owner charged with leading organized crime and two counts of promoting prostitution.
- Investigators seized cash, phones, cameras and evidence of advertised sexual services.
Lakewood police raided two spa and massage businesses last week that a six-month investigation found to be fronts for prostitution, according to court documents. The police arrested the alleged owner, a 42-year-old woman.
Pierce County prosecutors charged Thuy Thanh Bui Higginbotham with leading organized crime and two counts of second-degree promoting prostitution. A plea of not guilty was entered on her behalf at an arraignment hearing March 27.
Superior Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille ordered the defendant jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail. A pretrial services report showed that Higginbotham has no prior criminal convictions. The report listed a home address for her in Bellevue.
A defense attorney for Higginbotham was not listed in court records Tuesday.
The spas were the Rose Spa, 3711 Steilacoom Blvd. SW, and the Ocean Spa, 9615 Bridgeport Way SW, according to charging documents.
During the investigation, an undercover Lakewood Police Department detective allegedly found that customers were provided a menu of services when they entered the spas, which included options for sexual services in exchange for money. The undercover detective was reportedly told that multiple girls were available.
Another investigator who called a number advertised for the Ocean Spa in February was allegedly told that “Latinas” were available from Columbia and Brazil, and that the spa was open until 2 a.m.
The police surveilled both spas multiple times and saw men going inside for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, according to a police report. Investigators also saw a man dropping off a “female provider” at the Rose Spa. The report later stated that, according to an interview described by an investigator and FBI agents, the female from the Rose Spa was concerned for her safety and was made to provide massages and cleaning services with no payment.
The police executed search warrants the morning of March 26 at both spas.
Investigators detained Higginbotham while making entry at the Ocean Spa. The police contacted another person described as a female from Brazil during the search, and she was later released.
Inside the spa, according to the probable cause document, police found living quarters for the woman. Detectives located a notebook that allegedly contained evidence Higginbotham was posting ads on websites commonly used to advertise prostitution.
Stacks of money were allegedly found in the room, some of which were hidden in a false book. A police report states investigators seized more than $45,000 from the spa. Some money was seized from an ATM inside the spa.
The police report said Higginbotham’s room had several white boards with phrases in English and Vietnamese that the defendant was reportedly learning. Police reported that the phrases were helpful for the massage business, and several referred to sex acts.
“I also located and photographed a pink post-it style lined paper that had phrases like ‘rub penis’, ‘masturbate’, ‘how long since you had sex’, ‘are you into something new,’” a police sergeant wrote in the report.
In a customer bathroom, investigators found a piece of wood covering a hole in the floor, according to the police report. It contained numerous discarded condoms. Elsewhere, condoms were reportedly found inside a fake can of corn.
Investigators also seized phones, ledgers of proceeds earned, a credit-card scanner, numerous business documents that allegedly showed Higginbotham was the primary manager and a video surveillance DVR. Numerous cameras were allegedly found in the spa which fed to a monitor in the kitchen and in Higginbotham’s bedroom.
The police report did not describe what investigators found during the search of the Rose Spa.
