WILLMAR, Minn. — A Willmar business owner is facing charges after prosecutors say she held another woman captive to solicit prostitution.
The Willmar Police Department initially responded to the parking lot of 204 1st St. S. in response to a 911 call with a screaming woman on March 9, according to the criminal complaint.
Upon arrival, Sgt. Ross Livingood recognized the owner of Massage Therapy, Ying He, who was waving to him. Another person was also waving at Livingood and told him the 911 caller was inside of He's business, according to the charging document.
Livingood found the initial caller crying loudly on the floor.
Livingood spoke with the woman using a translation app on her phone and learned that her ID and belongings were in the business and that her boss had assaulted her.
After a Mandarin interpreter arrived, the woman identified her boss as He and said she treated her very poorly, according to the document.
The woman said He would not let her drink water, cook food, turn on lights, and confined her to a small room when not working. The victim allegedly provided a 30-minute massage to a client that day before he asked for more work to be done. The woman said her boss became upset with her and punched her in the head very hard, and she was left feeling dizzy and had a headache.
The woman told the officer she was afraid He would hit her again and that He verbally abuses her every day.
The woman was flown to Minnesota from California on March 3 and had been living at Massage Therapy since, where she was locked in a small room when there wasn't any business, according to the complaint.
When Livingood spoke with the defendant, she told him the woman didn't know how to massage and had been driving her business away. He added she wanted the woman to leave and denied hitting her. The defendant told Livingood she had a video that would show the interaction, but when the video got to the part that would have shown it, He closed out of it saying there was a malfunction.
The victim later told Livingood and a detective that she worked with an agency in Los Angeles looking for legitimate massage work and paid $100 to find a job not involving "sex", according to documents.
The woman was told the flight to Minnesota would cost $630 and that she would pay half and He would pay the other half. She was allegedly forced to start working the next day and was told by He to perform sexual acts on or for the customers.
The woman said when she refused to perform those acts, she was scolded by He and threatened that their boss in LA was a "lawyer for the courts."
When Livingood later returned to Massage Therapy, The owner provided a video of the incident which showed her hitting the woman in the head.
A search of Massage Therapy turned up nine cell phones, a small ledger notebook and sex toys, among other items.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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