SOUTH FORSYTH – Three women employed at separate massage parlors in south Forsyth were recently arrested after the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office conducted an undercover operation targeting the businesses, one of which has been targeted twice already this year.

On Thursday, May 18, Feng Wang, 52, of Norcross, who works at Yuan Massage, located at 7810 McGinnis Ferry Road, Suite 107, was arrested for masturbation for hire and keeping a place of prostitution, according to Deputy Doug Rainwater, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

Jinjie Guo, 40, of Duluth, who works at “A” Massage, located at 2255 Callaway Court, Suite 400, which is just off Peachtree Parkway in south Forsyth, was arrested for masturbation for hire.

Suk Yong Holman, 54, of Atlanta, who works at Edge Massage Therapy LLC, which is located at 765 McFarland Parkway, Suite C, was arrested for prostitution and cited for not being clothed appropriately and for “fondling the genitals of another,” two county ordinance violations, Rainwater said.

“Our primary purpose for this operation was to combat and suppress illegal sexual acts for hire as well as to check the massage parlors and its employees for compliance with state laws and county ordinance,” Sheriff Ron Freeman said. “We targeted three businesses and at each business, the undercover deputy was solicited for a sexual act.

“This is the second arrest we have made this year for a sexual act for hire at Edge Massage Therapy; a follow up investigation is underway and may result in other charges.”

In early March, Myong Kim, 61, of Columbus, who works at Edge Massage, was charged with prostitution after the sheriff’s office conducted a separate undercover operation.

The parlor was also cited in January for various business-related ordinance violations after reportedly being found in noncompliance with county codes.

Freeman said his office is ramping up crackdowns such as Thursday’s, following in the footsteps of previous Sheriff Duane Piper.

“Illicit massage parlors serving as a front for prostitution and sex trade are a scourge on our community and damage the legitimate massage and spa industry in Forsyth County,” hesaid. “The [sheriff’s office] will continue to aggressively enforce ordinances and laws related to these crimes. These criminal enterprises have no room to hide here anymore.”

In March 2016, the sheriff’s office, under Piper, conducted a massive undercover sting that targeted parlors and either shut down or cited more than a dozen that violated a local ordinance that went into effect that January.

Of the 15 checked during that sweep, 18 citations were issued, though none of the parlors checked Thursday were investigated at that time.

Rainwater said while the three businesses were not shut down in this most recent crackdown, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners may choose to take that step at a later date.

“We issue [the businesses] charges and violations and if criminal law is violated, we take the [suspects] to jail, which we did,” he said. “If county ordinances are violated, we issue tickets to appear in court, but ordinance violations are up to county commissioners to review business licenses on each [locale].”

The BOC recently took that step, voting 5-0 at a regular meeting Thursday to revoke the business license of Healing Touch Massage – also called BMB Sauna – a spa on McFarland Parkway.

Healing Touch’s violations were found during a compliance check performed by the sheriff’s office on Jan. 23, which found an employee allegedly soliciting sexual acts in exchange for cash from an undercover deputy.

During Thursday’s hearing, it was announced a prostitution charge had been dropped, but the business is the first to have a license revoked since the ordinance went into effect.

As of mid-afternoon Monday, Wang, Guo and Holman remained at the Forsyth County Jail with a $4,970, $1,670 and $3,320 bond, respectively.