2 Bascom Avenue Massage Parlors Shut Down

SAN JOSE - Two illegal massage parlors were forced to close this week in San Jose, Santa Clara County district attorney's officials said today.

The parlors were Angeline's Rejuvenating Salon and Valley Wellcare, both located along Bascom Avenue and roughly a half-mile away from each other, district attorney's officials said.

Massage parlors tend to be fronts for prostitution and human trafficking, according to district attorney's officials.

Angeline's Rejuvenating Salon was ordered to be closed Friday and is the fifth parlor to shut down within a mile-long stretch of Bascom Avenue in the past year, district attorney's officials said.

Valley Wellcare was evicted on Tuesday after the landlord learned the business was on a website that reviewed prostitution houses, according to district attorney's officials.

Valley Wellcare was also conducting business without a permit required from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and had building code violations on its record, district attorney's officials said.

Personnel from the Sheriff's Office and other county agencies assisted in the closures, according to district attorney's officials.

"We are taking back Bascom Avenue - and it's just the start," Deputy District Attorney Alisha Schoen said in a statement.

"Anyone who thinks they can come in and open an illicit massage parlor anywhere in our city, anywhere in our county, should strongly reconsider - or get a lawyer," Schoen said.

-Bay City News, image in the public domain