Arrested for offering sex for pay to undercover cop at massage business; woman now in ICE custody

A Mountain Home woman facing charges stemming from an alleged discussion offering the sale of sexual favors at a local massage business was due to appear in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division on Monday.

She was a no show and the court was told that the woman had been picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on October 24 and is awaiting possible deportation.

Fifty-five-year-old Lihua Yu was taken into custody by local law enforcement following a visit by an undercover police officer who went to the business posing as a customer and paid for a half-hour massage.

The officer reported having a discussion with Yu about the possible availability of sexual favors at the business.

The officer and Yu exchanged messages through an App on Yu’s phone and agreed that a sex act could be performed in exchange for $100.

The undercover officer left the business prior to the culmination of the deal.

According to the probable cause affidavit, police began to investigate the business after receiving complaints about sexual activity suspected of taking place there.

A search warrant was executed on the business several days after the undercover officer had gone into the business.

The search yielded multiple checkbooks linked to different accounts, credit card receipts, cash, ledgers with handwritten entries and two cell phones.

An investigation by Homeland Security personnel showed that the phone number used by Yu had been linked to more than 1,300 adult escort websites.

Yu is charged with criminal use of property or laundering criminal proceeds and prostitution in the second degree.

It is unknown if she will ever be returned to Baxter County by ICE. Prosecutor David Ethredge said the case would be left open for a time until ICE’s disposition of Yu’s case is known.

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