By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer
CHELSEA
– The Chelsea City Council unanimously approved the revocation of the business license held by Lily Massage LLC following in-depth investigations by authorities for the alleged promotion and engagement of prostitution.
During a public hearing held at the tail end of a regularly scheduled Chelsea City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 17 at Chelsea City Hall, each party was allowed to present evidence and cross-examine any witnesses brought forth by the other, with the council serving as an impartial board of judges.
Mark Boardman, Chelsea’s city attorney, spoke on behalf of the city inspector of Chelsea, while nobody showed up as a respondent to represent Lily Massage.
Lt. Clayton Smith, commander of the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force, was brought forth by Boardman as a witness to discuss the findings of his investigation into the massage business, which is located at 100 Chelsea Corners Way, Suite 106.
During Smith’s testimony, he shared that the Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force learned of the incidents taking place due to notification from citizens that noticed suspicious activity at the business. As a result, in late spring to early summer 2024, the task force began an investigation on Lily Massage and ultimately obtained a search warrant there on May 14 of this year.
Following the start of the investigation, the task force found that Zhen Ou and Aiqin Zheng were listed as being registered agents for Lily Massage by the Alabama Secretary of State Business Institute Record, leading to deeper findings.
“Shortly after that, we began looking into the business itself and the way it operates,” Smith said. “One of the first things we discovered was that Lily Massage, the address and the business, was published on some adult escort websites, along with our crime analyst also found some forums on the internet where customers were able to talk about their experience and what occurred at Lily Massage.”
With the information that was revealed about the experiences some had in doing business with Lily Massage, Smith stated that law enforcement began conducting surveillance on the massage entity. Through the video, they found Ou driving a specific SUV each day, ultimately leaving his house in North Shelby, driving to Lily Massage to drop females off and go to Grace Spa in Alabaster.
In addition, Ou was also seen to be making an estimated 19 trips to Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, where he was picking up and dropping off females on a weekly or biweekly basis.
The Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force later needed a little more to obtain probable cause for a search warrant. As a result, on May 2, investigators sent in an undercover law enforcement officer to Lily Massage.
“An undercover law enforcement officer went into Lily Massage and requested a massage,” Smith said. “He requested what is called a four-hand massage, meaning two massage therapists. During the massage, that investigator stated that one of the females made a hand gesture, using a hand gesture, I’m trying to keep this PG-rated, but the hand gesture was asking if he wanted a sex act and asked how much he was willing to pay for it. That investigator stated the girl offered an additional $30 per female for a sex act—he declined that. They offered a different price for that amount, he also declined that as well, and then they finished the massage and he left. That allowed us to obtain probable cause and we went before the judge and had a search warrant signed for Lily Massage.”
Sending in the undercover officer confirmed that the massage business had committed criminal acts violating laws of the state of Alabama. Law enforcement charged both Ou and Zheng with felony promoting prostitution in the second degree.
The task force also made the discovery of a female that was a human trafficking victim in connection with Ou, and after interviewing her, was able to find probable cause for a warrant and obtained warrants for both Ou and Zheng for trafficking in the first degree.
Following Smith’s testimony, no other witnesses were called to present. The Chelsea City Council then immediately unanimously voted for the approval of the revocation of the business license for Lily Massage LLC.
In connection with the case, the Alabaster City Council also unanimously approved the revocation of business licenses for Grace Spa LLC and TRU Acupressure during public hearings held on Monday, June 9.
