An agent and apparent owner of the seedy massage parlor Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) rents to, from which he received tens-of-thousands of dollars, has previous ties to prostitution, according to a report.
Fox News reports that massage parlor Asian Sunny Massage previously went by Impression Spa, which has reportedly been advertised on websites known by law enforcement for adverting illicit sex, has an agent named Jie Yang who has been linked to prostitution.
In the report, Fox News explains they have “no information that Asian Sunny Massage or Impression Spa have violated any laws or regulations,” but an “employee at a previous parlor linked to its agent was arrested for prostitution.” The articles of organization for the company, Asian Sunny Massage, which Fox obtained, show the current registered agent of the parlor is Jie Yang.
Previously, Jie Yang, who is said to be the owner, told Fox News, “the parlor only gives massages and does not provide any other ‘services.’” When pressed on the business’s alleged advertisements on illicit websites, he replied that the parlor “only uses Google.”
The report continued to show, Jie Yang had listed a Minnesota address on the form, which is the same address, that according to the report, is “shown in Florida state documents for Chunyan Yang.” Chunyan Yang appears to be the mother of and “is the former registered agent of Impression Spa prior to its name change to Asian Sunny Massage.” The ads for the parlor’s previous name, Impression Spa, are still posted on the illicit site (Screenshot shown below).
Screenshot via BodyRubsMap.com [Edited]
In a Plymouth Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit report, which Fox obtained, the unit was in charge of tracking RubMaps.com, one of the illicit sites on which the parlor advertised. This was part of his official duties. In a supplemental report from 2017, the officer wrote about RubMaps.com, saying, “the majority of the reviews are for massage parlors that offer extra services commonly referred to as ‘happy endings.'” The officer added, “‘happy ending’ is a term used to refer to a customer getting sexual services, usually in the form of massage parlor employee masturbating the client to orgasm.”
The officer who wrote the report said they had seen a review online that an establishment called Asian Health Massage, which Chunyan Yang managed, allegedly provided sexual services. Based on the reviews the officer has seen, the officer wrote, “it was determined that I would enter the establishment in an undercover capacity on 02-22-17.”
The officer who wrote the report said:
Upon entering the business, I was met by an Asian female, later identified as Yang. I asked Yang about the services and advised her I wanted a 1 hour massage with one girl. The cost of the service was $70.00. I provided a Yang with two $50 bills and was directed to a dimly lit room and told to get undressed. As I started to get undressed, Yang returned to the room with $30.00 in change. Yang then left the room. A short time later, another female later identified as Pan, enter the room and left as I was not fully undressed yet. Pan entered the room again a short time later and I was still getting undressed and told her she could remain in the room. I finished getting undressed and laid down on the table face down, completely nude.
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As Pan was massaging my legs, she would stop just above the knees and work her hands to my inner thighs, and back up towards my waist,” the officer wrote in the report. “As she did this, her fingers would lightly graze my testicles. This happened each time she would massage either my left or right leg. Based on my training and from knowledge gained from past officers who have done similar undercover work with regards to illegitimate massage practices, I understood this to possibly indicate more intimate touching could take place.
The officer in the report wrote, “I pointed to my penis, and made a motion to Pan to masturbate me. Pan smiled at me and told me I needed to ask. I advised her I would give her an extra $30.00 and not say anything at the time.”
The officer then wrote, “the series of events took place in a time span of approximately 10-15 seconds.” The officer described the series of events in which, “Pan then applied more oil to her hands and was rubbing my inner left thigh with her right hand and vigorously pinched and rubbed my left nipple with her left hand.” He then wrote, “Pan reached up and touched my testicle briefly.” He said as Pan started to do the said activities, the officer “immediately stopped the message at that point and advised her she was under arrest.”
After hearing of the arrest, more officers enter the premises, where they identified themselves as police and make contact with Chunyan Yang and Pan. The officers advised Pan, she was under arrest for soliciting prostitution. The officer also wrote he had spoken to Chunyan Yang and she denied there was prostitution. The office, after collecting information, had told Chunyan Yang the “business must remain closed” until further notice.
When the officer asked Chunyan Yang about who the owner was, she responded by saying, “No, I’m the manager, they wouldn’t renew my license so I had to put it in my daughter’s name.”
Fox reported a year later, “a man named Charles Stack attempted to open a massage parlor in New Hope, Minn., but was denied a license after a background check showed that he had potentially falsified information on his application.” The report said, “His application also contained an insurance certificate for Chunyan, according to the Sun Post, a local news outlet.”
Fox reported further on Stack:
Stack had submitted a therapeutic massage application on the same day as Chunyan, and two separate investigations into them found that Stack and Chunyan were also linked by another man named Addie Ng, who had previously contacted the city asking the likelihood of approval if Chunyan had submitted a massage license.
Ag’s and Chunyan’s names were both on the business license for a company called Asian Comfort Massage. That company’s license was suspended, and suspicious activity was reported at the business soon thereafter.
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Records show that Ag had drafted the current articles of organization for Asian Sunny Massage, which is renting the office space from Kind. Stack is also listed as the administrative and technical contact for Asian Sunny Massage’s website.
Derrick Van Orden, who is the Republican running against Kind in the upcoming midterm election, released a statement on Kind’s building’s tenant having a history of prostitution. “Ron Kind cannot deflect from the fact that he has been renting space to a massage parlor that advertises on commercial sex sites and that the agent behind this business has been linked to prostitution,” Van Orden said.
Van Orden continued to say, “As a former prosecutor, he knows that this industry is rife with human sex trafficking. He either knew about the reported past practices of this business owner and ignored them to cash in, or he failed to do his due diligence.”
“Either way, this is an egregious breach of trust, and there are questions that Ron Kind must answer,” Van Orden later added.
After the initial reporting on Kind renting to the seedy massage parlor, Kind claimed the reports were false and are racist for questioning an Asian-owned business. Kind even released a statement saying, “This is a baseless smear rooted in racism and insinuations.”
In addition, the lawyer who represents the parlor, Joe Veenstra, who is a La Crosse attorney and works for Johns, Flaherty & Collins, had released a statement on behalf of the owner of Asian Sunny Massage. He said, “Asian Sunny Massage runs a perfectly legitimate business. It operates in accordance with all state and local regulations.” Veenstra continued to say, “Any statements or implications to the contrary are defamatory and anyone in the press or politics saying otherwise is risking serious legal action.”
However, after the release of that statement, it was reported, the law firm representing the parlor, Johns, Flaherty & Collins, also has deep ties with Kind. The Washington Free Beacon had claimed the lawyer and law firm are looking out for their own political ties with the vulnerable Democrat. The report said, “the law firm’s interest in clearing Asian Sunny Massage’s name may go beyond its role as counsel for the establishment.”
The Beacon’s reporting also noted that Brent Smith, who currently serves as the firm’s managing partner, has been the treasurer for Kind’s campaign since last August. In addition to Kind’s campaign website listing Smith as treasurer, the statements for the campaign also list his law firm’s address. Since Kind’s first run in 1997, the Beacon’s report shows Smith has contributed roughly $7,600 to his campaigns.
The connections went deeper. Veenstra, “has also donated repeatedly to Democratic candidates over the last decade, including $250 to Kind, his single largest contribution.” According to the report, the law firm’s other lawyers have combined to contribute $900 to Kind’s campaign since 1999.
Kind has been a target by the Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), since the beginning of the new midterm cycle. A spokesman for the committee, Mike Berg, released a statement Thursday saying, “It’s time for Ron Kind to come clean with Wisconsin voters about making tens of thousands of dollars from individuals with ties to prostitution. The police report and advertisements on known human trafficking websites are incredibly disturbing.”
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