ICE detains man charged with assault in Ellsworth massage parlor - Bangor Daily News

[Bill Trotter]

A man from China accused of sexually molesting a customer at an Ellsworth massage parlor where he worked has been detained by federal immigration officials.

Chunze Xu, 65, is facing charges of unlawful sexual contact and assault in Hancock County. He was expected to go to trial earlier this month but was arrested on April 10 on a warrant for failure to appear in court, according to the Ellsworth Police Department.

Xu was booked into the Hancock County Jail on that date but has since been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Xu is listed in court records as having an address in Flushing, New York, but according to ICE is a citizen of China. The agency’s online detainee locator on Tuesday indicated that Xu is being held at Two Bridges Regional jail in Wiscasset.

The charges against Xu date to June 2023, when a woman contacted police to allege that he sexually molested her while he was giving her a massage at Cozy Massage at 4 Union St. in Ellsworth. He was arrested on the charges the following month, according to the Ellsworth American newspaper. Court records indicate that he was released on $5,000 cash bail and with the condition that he was “not to administer massages.”

The parlor’s business license was revoked in July 2023 because of the criminal charges filed against Xu, but then the license was reinstated a month later, according to city records.

Earlier this year, ICE detained another Chinese citizen who ran a massage parlor in Rockland. Tian Tao, 54, was arrested in February by Rockland police on sex trafficking charges. Tao, who was taken to Cumberland County Jail in Portland, was under suspicion of running other massage parlors in the midcoast area and was facing deportation, ICE said last month.

Sgt. Chad Wilmot, the Ellsworth police officer who arrested Xu on April 10, said he knew of no possible connections that Xu might have to other massage parlors or criminal investigations.

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