By Khalida Sarwari
Three months after a Campbell businessman raised concerns to the city about suspicious activity at a massage parlor in his office building, authorities arrested the owners of Valley Massage Therapy on suspicion of running a house of prostitution, and their petition to renew their business license was removed from the Sept. 4 city council meeting agenda.
Drych Powell, 57, and Tiffany Trinh, 52, both of San Jose, were arrested on July 20 at Valley Massage Therapy, a massage establishment they owned and operated at 281 E. Hamilton Ave., according to police Capt. Charley Adams.
Prosecutors have charged them with running a house of prostitution, and the business was shuttered shortly after the arrests.
The arrests and charges followed an investigation that began shortly after April 3, when a local businessman, who asked not to be named, appeared before the city council to speak about potential prostitution activity being conducted at a neighboring business. In response, Mayor Mike Kotowski referred the issue to the police department for follow-up.
“We got complaints from nearby businesses that they believed prostitution was happening at Valley Massage Therapy,” Adams said.
An investigation involving the Santa Clara County Special Enforcement Team and the California Attorney General’s Department of Justice Task Force ensued soon after and entailed an undercover operation, said Adams.
As part of the operation, undercover officers went to Valley Massage Therapy and were offered prostitution services by employees of the business, said Adams.
According to a memo to the council recommending the denial of the business license renewal, an officer who went to the parlor for a massage on Nov. 30, 2011, was told by a masseuse that “she would perform acts of prostitution for an additional $40.”
Another undercover officer had a similar experience on April 5.
On July 20, officers served a search warrant at Valley Massage Therapy and found evidence that prostitution services allegedly were being offered at the site. The memo alleges that an employee admitted to “offering, performing and being paid for acts of prostitution as an employee of the business.”
Employees at the business were not arrested or cited, according to Adams.
The investigation has revealed that for every payment received for prostitution, the owners were receiving about half of the proceeds, according to Adams.
A similar undercover operation was conducted at three other massage establishments owned and operated by Powell and Trinh, Adams said. The businesses–Bascom Therapy, Wow Foot Spa and Aromatherapy–are all located in San Jose and also offered prostitution services, said Adams.
Powell and Trinh were booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail, but have since posted bail and are awaiting a Sept. 28 hearing. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case, according to spokeswoman Lisa McCrary.
The license for Valley Massage Therapy expired on Aug. 10, a year after Powell was granted the license.
Prostitution arrest leads to city’s denial of business license request
