Copyright Mechanicsburg Patriot News
A Perry County man is charged with sex trafficking and related charges stemming from police raids on two Carlisle-area massage parlors last year. Once viewed as a silent partner in a business run by his wife, Chuanxia Wang, Cumberland County investigators now say their ongoing investigation shows Ronald Wilson was directly involved in operations at the spas, too. Wilson, 76, of the 900 block of North Front Street, Newport, is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 10 preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Jon Birbeck on trafficking, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and other counts. The massage parlors in question, GL Massage, in the 1700 block of West Trindle Road, and Li’s Asian Spa, 300 E. High St., were raided by police last fall and closed shortly thereafter. County detectives said then they had documented in interviews with clients that illicit sexual services were provided to Li’s customers by at least two employees on multiple occasions last year, apparently in exchange for tips paid in addition to the regular house fees. Wang, described by an employee as the boss at Li’s, was charged with promoting prostitution, human trafficking and dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities. Her case is still pending in Cumberland County court. Wilson was not charged at that time. In the new case, filed Friday, detectives said they have extracted photos from Wang’s phone that shows Wilson at New York’s LaGuardia Airport with a group of new employees he was sent to pick up. The affidavit stated Wang arranged for the women to travel across the Mexican border into the U.S., after which they would fly to LaGuardia. In addition to ferrying workers from New York to Carlisle, the paperwork notes Wilson was listed as the point of contact for the owners of both Carlisle-area spas, and states detectives have found several checks from Wang’s business account that were written to Wilson for “work done” and later deposited into his personal accounts. Finally, police said they’ve developed evidence showing Wang named Wilson as the person who would be taking over the lease for a third Virginia-based spa she was trying to acquire an interest in. The massage parlor raids were part of Cumberland County District Attorney Sean McCormack’s attempts to crack down on sex-related human trafficking. Cumberland County is believed to be especially susceptible to sex trafficking due to the confluence of several major interstate highways here.
