Fairfax County spa under police probe, business owner faces charges

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — Neighbors in one Falls Church community are sharing their concerns about a spa operating near their homes, and criminal charges have been filed against the apparent proprietor.

After questions lingered for months from several homeowners about the spa’s operations, two misdemeanor charges were levied against the business owner of a Limited Liability Corporation registered to the spa’s address.

Two neighbors on the 2700 block of Summerfield Road shared their observations of the Rose Spa on South Washington Street and commented anonymously in fear of possible retaliation.

DC News Now interviewed one woman at her home on Wednesday.

“This has been going on for months, and months,” one homeowner said, noting that she began seeing men exclusively going in and out of Rose Spa starting last October.

“I was working from home at the time, and so I saw only men going in. I saw that they were open really late, which seemed really suspicious for a spa,” she added.

Another homeowner independently claimed to have only seen men arrive at and leave the spa.

The spa’s website includes puzzling promotions like, “Admire our unique sweet girls,” and, “High-quality massage must be due to pretty girls.”

A search engine result for the spa’s posted phone number shows websites where women are promoted for massages, as escorts, and blog posts suggesting sexual acts as a service.

When we called the spa, an automated voice said, “The subscriber you have dialed is not in service.”

Last Thursday, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Police Department said, “This business [Rose Spa] was identified through multiple community complaints.  Our Violent Crime Suppression Unit focused on the business as part of their Summer Crime Initiative.”

According to court records, L Health Center and Xiaoyang Li were charged with two misdemeanors on July 17, including operating massage services without a permit and residing in a bawdy place.

Virginia law says, “‘bawdy place’ means any place within or outside any building or structure that is used or is to be used for “lewdness, assignation, or prostitution.”

Russ Stone, a long-time defense attorney in Virginia, said, “When you see that ‘bawdy place’ charge, in Virginia, what it typically is referring to is prostitution,” he said, adding this is the case, “95 percent of the time.”

Records with Virginia’s State Corporation Commission say L Health Center is registered at the spa’s exact address on Summerfield Road, and to someone named Xiaoyang Li.

Greg G. Lee, an attorney who told DC News Now he has been retained to represent Li’s case, said Wednesday that he is in the process of gathering information through discovery (the evidence-gathering period during the initial developments of court cases), saying, “I have no more information to provide.”

While it is unconfirmed what kind of activity or evidence police may have gathered before levying the ‘bawdy place’ charge, Stone said prostitution cases in Virginia are “often hard to prove because a lot of times you don’t have an insider willing to testify, so that’s often what police are looking for; someone that was involved in the transaction.”

Hypothetical ‘insiders,’ Stone said, include undercover officers, potential people who have paid for prostitution, or someone who is engaged in sex work.

Neighborhood concerns prompted Fairfax County Supervisor and area resident Dalia Palchik to share a statement through the neighborhood’s civic association on Tuesday on Facebook.

Palchik said, in part, “several agencies, including public safety and code compliance, are actively working to ensure the safety and well-being of all impacted…” “while the county is still working through challenges related to the ability to fully resolve this matter, steps are being taken to be able to do so.”

Meantime, Fairfax County police told us they will continue to investigate allegations about Rose Spa, “and identify illicit massage businesses as part of their initiative.”

“I really hope that, you know, we’re able to move forward with charges and that this illegal activity stops in our neighborhood,” said the homeowner whom DC News Now sat down with on Wednesday.

Court case records say Li is due in Fairfax County General District Court in mid-August.