Gwinnett Daily Post

BUFORD - The worst way to disguise an alleged illegal sex spa might be to advertise in a weekly Atlanta newspaper read by hundreds of thousands.

Police say they acted Tuesday on an advertisement in a local alternative paper touting a spa's primary service - the "Magic Touch" - at a new location in Norcross.

Upon further investigation, that service revealed itself as an illegal fondling act for which the spa charged $40 - enough to land two metro Atlanta women in jail, police said.

An undercover Gwinnett police investigator was allegedly approached Tuesday night for the sex act at the Ivy Spa, located at 3877 Holcomb Bridge Road.

The spa's manager, Mincha Kwon-Moon, 48, of Alpharetta, was charged with prostitution and keeping a place of prostitution, according to an arrest warrant.

A co-worker, Jianfang Fu, 28, of Lithonia, faces those charges and one count of pimping for trying to entice the officer into accepting the sexual act from Kwon-Moon, the warrant says.

Prostitution and pimping are misdemeanors in Georgia.

Both women posted bond and were released Wednesday from the Gwinnett County Jail.

A vice investigator with Gwinnett police, who asked to remain anonymous, said in addition to print advertising, Ivy Spa ads were found on an explicit Web site offering $10 massage coupons.

The spa is registered as the Ivy Reflexology Therapy Center on its business license, and it will likely be reviewed by the Gwinnett County Licensing and Revenue Board, the investigator said.

"They all try to sound legit at first," said the investigator, "but sometimes they aren't."

Kwon-Moon, the spa manager, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Investigators could check phone records to see who has patronized the spa during its first two months of business. The arrested women were the only workers present during the bust, the investigator said.

Several years ago, a rash of illegal massage parlors masquerading as spas was eradicated in Gwinnett, but the problem is beginning to crop up again, said the investigator.

"We had them all cleaned up," said the investigator. "Now it's kind of maintenance - they pop up every few months."