Women arrested at Aiken massage parlor for prostitution might have been human trafficking victims - Post and Courier

[Matthew Christian [email protected]]

Two women arrested in an Aiken prostitution sting may have been human trafficking victims.

Aiken Department of Public Safety officers arrested the women after they conducted an April 14 prostitution sting at Golden Fingers Massage Parlor on Silver Bluff Road.

"... women trafficked in massage businesses are typically immigrants from China or South Korea ... between the ages of 35-55...," the Polaris Project says on its website.


The Polaris Project is an advocacy group working to put human trafficking survivors first.

The two women arrested were 39 years old according to an Aiken County detention center booking report. Both have Chinese names.

Traffickers often lie to the women they are trafficking, the Polaris Project continues. The women aren't told what type of work they'll be doing — commercial sex — until after they arrive and the women are often in desperate need of money, the project said.

The women don't speak much English, don't keep their own identity documents or get to control their money and are kept in an unfamiliar area, the Polaris Project added.

"Traffickers have told her that if she leaves no one will help her, that the police are corrupt and won’t listen to her or believe her, that she will be arrested for prostitution or deported, and that her family will be told the shameful story that she is working in the sex industry in the United States, and will be required to pay off her debts," the entry said.

In those circumstances, the women feel they have no choice but to participate, the project said.

Another sign of human trafficking is that the victims often live in the same place they work, DeliverFund said on their website.





DeliverFund is an advocacy group working to provide law enforcement the training to combat human trafficking.

The addresses listed for both women is 655 B Silver Bluff Road, the massage parlor's address, according to Aiken County General Sessions court records.

Additionally, a carpenter who performed work at Golden Finger said a woman at the massage parlor named Apple was "living in a makeshift room that looked like a freezer," Officer C.L. Weathersbee said in an incident report.

Covered or blacked out windows are another sign, DeliverFund continues.

There is a poster of a woman getting a massage covering most of one of the business's windows. There are also thick, closed shades behind the windows. The business's door is like a mirror.

Another sign is that the business offers erotic services.

The carpenter said he had been offered Apple's "services" in lieu of payment for his work, Weathersbee added. The carpenter said he declined, Weathersbee continued.

DeliverFund lists eight more signs including providers wearing little to no clothing, refusing to service women, having to buzz in to enter the business, that the providers don't speak much English and that the providers constantly rotate.

It is unknown what type of clothing the women were wearing, if they speak English or if there are frequently new providers at the business.

There are no reviews of the business on Yelp or Google which precludes an ability to know if the business serves women or not.

There did not appear to be a buzzer at the door.

A person suspecting human trafficking should contact 911 if he anticipates imminent danger. If there's no imminent danger, contact the South Carolina Department of Social Services (scdss.gov) or the National Human Trafficking Hotline (1-888-373-7888).