DOVER, DELAWARE (12/20/2014) The owner of several massage parlors across the state has been charged with promoting and permitting prostitution at a spa near Rehoboth Beach, one of two where employees and customers were arrested earlier this month, state police said.
Dazhong Wang, 50, of Smyrna, was arrested Thursday in Dover after a scheduled meeting with an officer of the state Fire Marshal’s Office, police said.
Wang is owner of the Relaxed Spa, 37385 Rehoboth Avenue Extended near Rehoboth Beach, police said, and owns other spas in Dover and Smyrna.
A similar business owned by Wang in Middletown was closed after Middletown police made prostitution arrests there in January, state police said.
Wang is being held at Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna in lieu of $5,500 secured bond.
In raids Dec. 4, one masseuse was arrested at Relaxed Spa and two others at nearby Top Quality Spa, 37169 Rehoboth Avenue Extended, after an undercover detective first visited the businesses.
Meizhu Zhang, 43, Xiangyu Jin, 44, and Yan F. Dong, 40, all of Rehoboth, were charged with prostitution and unlicensed massage therapy. Each was released after posting $550 secured bond.
Richard L. Engle, 38, of Magnolia; Barry C. Lenhart, 72, of Lewes; James S. Shortley, 80, of Rehoboth; and Howard W. Brand Jr., 46, of Lewes, were each charged with patronizing a prostitute and released on a criminal summons.
The investigation involved the Delaware State Police Sussex Drug Task Force, Sussex Governor’s Task Force, Troop 4 Major Crimes Unit, Department of State Division of Professional Regulation, State of Delaware Department of Justice, and Department of Homeland Security Investigations.