Rolfe Square Massage Parlor Shut Down after Prostitution Probe

The ads on Backpage.com showed scantily-clad Asian women offering full body massages with ads that said, “Make you leave with a big smile.”

Customers responding to the ads would be directed to 96 Rolfe Square in Cranston, the location of Sun Massage Parlor, which police said was operating essentially as a brothel.

After receiving a tip that something fishy was going on at the massage parlor, detectives got to work and on Friday, Cranston Police Chief Col. Michael J. Winquist said that Sun Massage Parlor is now closed and Jian Kong, of 83 High School, Ave., 2nd floor, has been arrested after she gave a massage to an undercover Cranston police detective and was confirmed to not possess a license to practice massage.

The business owner, identified by police as Li Sun, was not at the business and “advised. . .she can’t open Sun Massage until she receives approval from the city.”

It turns out that Sun did fill out an application to conduct massages at the Rolfe Square location but never appeared before the City Council’s Safety Service and Licensing Committee. As a result, she did not get approval.

Sun was cited with a municipal ordinance violation for operating without a license.

“We will continue to enforce both State laws and Municipal Ordinances that govern these businesses,” Winquist said. “I want to thank the pubic for bringing this illegal business to our attention. Tips regarding illicit activity can be submitted anonymously through the Cranston Police website.”

Cranston officials have been working to crack down on these types of massage parlors, which have operated for years in Rhode Island and appear and disappear like a game of of Whack-a-Mole.

In May, the City Council approved an ordinance that created a strict series of requirements for a business to operate as a massage parlor or spa that offers “body rubs, body stimulations, body conditioning, spa services and spa treatments that threat the skin or body for remedial, hygienic, relaxation or other purposes.”

Business owners must pay an annual $100 license fee and employees must wear photo ID badges issued by the city at all times while working.

Doctors, nurses, physical therapists, school athletic trainers, state-licensed massage therapists are exempted.

Also exempted are barbers, hair dresses, manicurists and estheticians.