Three women have been arrested for propositioning undercover Sheriff’s detectives at two Oildale massage parlors.

Tuesday night’s operation on North Chester Avenue is the first under the county’s new ordinance for the businesses, which Sheriff Donny Youngblood says can be fronts for human traffickers who prey on women. Public Health Director Matt Constantine says some of those parlors are not clean and can spread sexually transmitted diseases.

Sheriff’s deputies acted on tips from concerned community members to close down Bonnie’s Massage and Oriental Foot Massage. Kezhen Zhao and Jiahong Zhang were cited for prostitution while Maohua Jiang was cited for a code violation.

Youngblood says they expect to do more raids in the future.

Kelli Pierce