Massage parlors owners in Wellesley and Revere indicted on human trafficking, prostitution charges

By Evan Allen, Town Correspondent

The owners of two massage parlors, one in Wellesley and the other in Revere, were indicted in connection with human trafficking and prostitution on Thursday, according to a statement from Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Joseph Girouard, 55, of Revere, Zhen Lai, 37, of Quincy, and Wenjie Dong, 49, of Malden, are accused of employing masseuses to offer sexual services at Bodywork in Revere and Sun Spa (also known as Sun Studio) in Wellesley, according to the statement.

"We allege that these defendants exploited these women and coerced them into prostitution," said Coakley in the statement.

The indictments are the result of an investigation by State Police assigned to the Attorney General's Office in conjunction with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and the Wellesley Police Department, according to the statement.

Authorities allege that Lai, Girouard and Dong operated the two massage parlors, which allegedly offered sexual activity for cash that was characterized as "tips." Most of the profit went to Lai, Girouard and Dong, according to the statement.

Some of the masseuses came to Boston from New York, according to the statement, and Girouard allegedly arranged transportation for several masseuses to and from the parlors, which were advertised in newspapers and websites known to advertise prositution.

Lai, Girouard and Dong were arrested on Oct. 18 and pleaded not guilty the next day.

They were indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury on Thursday. Girouard was indicted with two counts of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, two counts of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude, to counts of deriving support from prostitution, and two counts of keeping a house of ill fame. Lai and Dong were indicted on one charge each of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude, deriving support from prostitution and keeping a house of ill fame.

Evan Allen can be reached at evan.allen@globe.com