Woman charged in Chesterfield massage parlor sting operation shares story of arrest - Richmond Times-Dispatch

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Xiuwen Zhang — a Chinese immigrant and state-licensed massage therapist who owns XF Massage at the Midlothian Station shopping center in Chesterfield, Virginia — said she deeply distrusts the police. She adamantly denied the allegations against her, and said she is not a victim of trafficking.


Zhang was arrested by Chesterfield police at gunpoint while at work in June. She was subsequently charged with prostitution and living or residing in a place of prostitution.


Speaking with The Times-Dispatch of Richmond, Virginia, Zhang said she would never offer sex acts for pay — and claimed an undercover detective asked her to perform illicit deeds. She also said that neither she nor any of the employees who have worked there are victims of human trafficking.


Lt. Ed Pierpont, of Chesterfield police’s special investigations unit, shared a different version of events.

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“I can 100% say her (story) is inaccurate,” he said. “Our detectives are not allowed to solicit” illegal behavior — an act that could run afoul of state and federal entrapment laws.


Instead, he said detectives wait until sex acts are suggested, either verbally or through “gestures … or by touch(ing) the privates area.”


“They’re usually covered up,” Pierpont said of the detectives. He declined to disclose the audio tape he said proves Zhang made the first move.


Pierpont did acknowledge that police had drawn their weapons and turned off Zhang’s video feed during the arrest. Both choices, he said, were made because of safety concerns.

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