People having sex in parked cars. More than a thousand online prostitution advertisements. Sexual noises loud enough to disrupt a nearby Bible study.
These were some of numerous complaints made over several years that prompted the City Attorney’s Office to ask a judge to shut down Ocean Spa massage parlor in Kearny Mesa on allegations the business was a front for prostitution.
Officials announced the action at a Tuesday news conference in front of the Kearny Villa Road business. Neither the business nor its owners could be reached for comment.
“The owners of Ocean Spa have been masquerading as a legitimate business for far too long,” City Attorney Mara Elliott said in a statement. “Ocean Spa is a sex shop — not a massage parlor — and it has no place in our community or anywhere else.”
Police have been fielding complaints about the business, which has gone by several different names, since at least 2018, court documents indicate. Community members and nearby businesses have reported foot traffic at the location at all hours of the day, sexual sounds coming from the location and employees who wear explicit clothing.
A church that opened a Bible study center for university and high school students next to the business in the summer of 2022 regularly reported having sessions interrupted by “the sounds of loud moaning,” court documents read. And on numerous occasions, employees at the parlor would approach male students of the church and tell them to “come over and visit.”
The church later left the business complex due to activity at the parlor, according to court documents.
Last year alone, San Diego police detectives spent more than 125 hours investigating misdemeanor prostitution-related crimes at the property, officials said. Spa workers offered to sell sex to undercover police officers at least four times since 2018 — most recently in December — leading to two arrests for prostitution. Investigators have also documented 1,270 online advertisements for sex at the spa over the last five years.
City inspectors sent to the property in October also found half a dozen building and zoning violations. The owners combined two units in the business complex and created multiple massage rooms without submitting the required permits, court documents say. Some areas in the business appeared to be used for habitation, not massage — another zoning violation, the documents state. There were beds instead of traditional massage tables in some areas, a kitchen area with a well-stocked refrigerator and multiple suitcases and storage areas with clothing, shoes and other personal items, according to court documents.
These suspected habitation areas had city officials concerned some of the women who work at the business may be victims of human trafficking, officials said.
“We’re not convinced that these women voluntarily sold sex,” Elliott said. “We’re very concerned about the well-being of these employees.”
Several notifications have been sent to various owners connected to the location about the alleged prostitution and other misdeeds occurring at the business. The owners briefly shut down the location in 2019 after being told of the violations, only to have the business start back up less than two months later under a different name. On Thursday, officials noted the massage parlor appeared to be vacant.
Elliott is concerned they’ll simply take their business elsewhere. “Unfortunately, it’s like a whack-a-mole situation with some of these people.”
The long-running investigation highlights some of the many challenges department’s like the City Attorney’s Office face when working to prosecute illicit massage parlors. Because the office investigates misdemeanors, it only has a few avenues of investigation, namely through nuisance abatement cases — or when someone isn’t using their property correctly. It can take years to develop these kinds of cases against rogue business owners, a mission that becomes more challenging without the cooperation of the public.
Elliott noted Thursday’s case developed in part because of the public’s willingness to share what was happening.
“People are very sophisticated — they know when something’s not right,” she said. “We always encourage whoever observed something to just put the call in. There’s no risk to someone to make a report.”
The City Attorney’s Office is seeking more than $100,000 in civil penalties and reimbursement for attorneys fees and enforcement costs, and has asked the court to prohibit the business from continuing to operate.
