logo
BCSO and FDOH utilize House Bill 197 to crack down on several local massage parlors

BCSO and FDOH utilize House Bill 197 to crack down on several local massage parlors

Yahoo07-02-2025

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Seven people were picked up yesterday for failing to comply with a relatively new state law known as the 'Massage Parlor Act.' Sheriff's deputies worked with the Florida Department of Health to enforce the law and look for evidence of human trafficking.
Bay County Sheriff's Office investigators collaborated with the Florida Department of Health investigators to target massage establishments, advertised on websites commonly connected to prostitution and human trafficking.
While officials say they found no evidence of prostitution at any of the 8 establishments they investigated, they did identify other violations.
Walton County K9 detects trafficking amount of fentanyl during traffic stop
'Out of the seven arrests we made yesterday, none of them were prostitution-related. They were all related to those specific charges of one of the three charges of either not having customer information correctly, not having employee documentation or information or allowing the the establishment to be used as a domicile for sleeping or napping,' Criminal Investigator Ryan Nelson said.
One of these businesses is 'Popular Massage' on Thomas Drive. The owner, 62-year-old Zhongqin Jin, was charged with 2 counts of failure to maintain records required of a massage parlor along with the use of a massage parlor as a principal domicile.
In July of 2024, new laws took effect concerning the records that massage parlors must keep. The Florida massage parlor act regulates establishments to combat human trafficking and illicit activities.
'This house bill is another tool on our belt that gives us another avenue, another way to keep people safe and prevent human trafficking by enforcing these laws at these massage establishments,' Nelson said.
Nelson explained why not having updated customer records is considered a criminal violation.
'We want to identify the frequent people that are coming in and out of these business businesses and utilizing their services, especially if it's illicit services as well,' Nelson said.
Nelson says it's problematic if they can't track the customers using these potentially illicit services.
'Without people that are trying to receive services from victims of human trafficking, whether it be, you know, sexually based services you know, we wouldn't have as much human trafficking without people that are trying to receive those services, for lack of better words,' Nelson added.
Florida lawmakers visit Gulf County before legislative session
At one establishment, records showed customers using aliases such as 'Joe Dirt.'
'We want to have employee information so we can keep track of who's working there. If these, you know, suspects or bad guys are trying to employ victims of human trafficking, they're most of the time not going to have accurate information in their system or logged for all these employees that are doing these services,' Nelson continued.
Nelson also says in the establishments where employees were allegedly living, there's a possible human trafficking aspect to investigate. We stopped by 4 of the 7 businesses, and only 2 of those appeared to be open, including some that had been identified as being used for sleeping quarters.
The Florida Department of Health is responsible for taking administrative action. Sheriff's officials made a point of saying all 7-people were here legally.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Texas secretary of state refers 33 potential noncitizen voters for criminal investigation
Texas secretary of state refers 33 potential noncitizen voters for criminal investigation

Yahoo

time4 days ago

  • Yahoo

Texas secretary of state refers 33 potential noncitizen voters for criminal investigation

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson on Thursday said she has referred the names of 33 'potential noncitizens' who voted in the November 2024 general election to the state Attorney General's Office for investigation. Texas officials used newly obtained access to a federal database, managed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, to check the citizenship status of people on the state's voter rolls, Nelson said, adding that the data also helped Texas officials 'confirm naturalization of dozens more.' The announcement came after a Republican-led push in Texas and across the country to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, although documented cases of noncitizen voting are rare. A bill to require proof of citizenship from Texas voters failed to pass during the legislative session that ended this week. The 33 potential noncitizens are a tiny fraction of the roughly 11.3 million Texans who cast ballots in the November 2024 general election. It's not clear which counties the 33 voters are from, or how long they had been on the voter rolls. Several states, including Michigan, Ohio and Georgia, have also reported referring small numbers of cases of potential noncitizens casting ballots for investigation following audits of voter rolls. Texas Republicans are moving forward with a plan to ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment affirming that only U.S. citizens are permitted to vote — something already established under state law. Months before the November 2024 election, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that 6,500 noncitizens had been removed from Texas voter rolls prior to 2024. The governor's office later edited its own press release to describe those removed as 'potential' noncitizens. A joint investigation by Votebeat, Texas Tribune and ProPublica later found Abbott's numbers were inflated and, in some instances, wrong. In reality, the state removed only 581 people as noncitizens over three years. The rest of the 6,500 had simply failed to respond to a notice asking them to confirm their citizenship, which doesn't mean they weren't citizens. The newsrooms' investigation found that some eligible citizens had been flagged as potential noncitizens and removed from the rolls. The state action echoed a scandal from 2019, when the Secretary of State's Office announced that it had identified 95,000 registered voters as potential noncitizens and said that more than half of them had previously cast ballots. But the assertions didn't hold up. Many of the voters in question turned out to be naturalized citizens flagged due to outdated data, and the state ultimately settled a related lawsuit by agreeing to new procedures. Last fall, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 15 other attorneys general sent a letter to then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, saying U.S. CIS had failed to respond quickly and helpfully enough to state requests for assistance verifying the citizenship status of people on the voter rolls. In March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to provide free access to the SAVE database to all states. Nelson's news release on Thursday said that Texas was among the first states to receive it, 'and recently joined a pilot program working with DHS, USCIS and DOGE to improve the database's functionality.' Natalia Contreras is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. She's based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@ Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

Unsolved Ohio: Who killed Amy Jo Nelson? Family wants answers in 2017 homicide
Unsolved Ohio: Who killed Amy Jo Nelson? Family wants answers in 2017 homicide

Yahoo

time4 days ago

  • Yahoo

Unsolved Ohio: Who killed Amy Jo Nelson? Family wants answers in 2017 homicide

NEW STRAITSVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) – After more than seven years and no arrests, the family of Amy Jo Nelson continues to demand justice in the 39-year-old's homicide. Ever since Amy was found dead in New Straitsville, a Perry County village with a population of around 650, her family has been conducting its own investigation in a search for closure. Amy's mother, Pam Nelson, described her as 'the sweetest person.' 'She had a funny personality, very funny,' Amy's sister, Abbie Vann, added. 'Even when she was upset, she would always try and joke.' Throughout Amy's life, she dealt with multiple medical conditions, including the autoimmune disorders Lupus and Antiphospholipid Syndrome. This resulted in her being placed on a variety of medications by doctors since she was 14 years old, which led to nonprescribed drug use, Vann said. Despite pushing through blood transfusions, chemotherapy, months-long hospital stays and other effects of her conditions, Amy's life was cut short on Sept. 18, 2017. Around 11 a.m. that morning, while working as a nurse, Pam received a call from Amy's phone. She stepped into the hallway and answered the call, but it wasn't Amy. The call came from Amy's boyfriend's mother, who shared news that made Pam collapse on the floor. Where Columbus drivers are likely to get parking tickets 'She told me Amy passed away in her sleep,' Nelson said. A coroner's report states someone reported the incident to 911 at 10:47 a.m., but does not specify who. Nelson and Vann rushed to the residence where Amy was found dead – an apartment on Main Street, where Amy and her boyfriend had stayed the night. Vann said the couple often crashed at acquaintances' places. When Nelson and Vann saw Amy, they said they immediately believed foul play was involved because she had injuries on her face. Nelson asked the two responding officers with the New Straitsville Police Department, an agency with a part-time chief, to reach out to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to assist with analyzing the scene. 'I said 'Are you going to call the BCI?' after I looked at Amy and they said, 'No, there's no crime scene, ma'am,'' Nelson said. 'I said, 'You've got to be kidding. Look at her.'' Nelson and Vann speculated Amy's prior drug use may have led police on the scene to assume she died of an overdose. An autopsy revealed that Amy had both prescribed and nonprescribed medications in her system, but also confirmed the drugs did not cause her passing. Ohio again examines funding police pensions Amy's death was ruled a homicide, caused by 'repeated' blunt force trauma to the head. A Perry County coroner's report by Dr. Bradley Wilson claims Amy's boyfriend said she had 'fallen' within 48 hours of her death, but did not provide further context. 'The extensive head and brain injuries are not consistent with a simple fall and are consistent with injuries incurred by multiple blunt force trauma given the other body injuries, it appears the decedent was assaulted by another person or persons,' the report reads. Since the ruling, the BCI and Perry County Sheriff's Office have been assisting the police department with the case. Amy's family said they are meeting with a sheriff's detective each month about the investigation. Nelson and Vann point to the original handling of the scene by law enforcement as one of the main reasons they believe the case is unsolved. Nelson claimed an individual at the scene was cleaning the apartment while Amy was still lying dead on the bed where she was found, which could have resulted in destroyed evidence. 'It's frustrating how everything was handled,' Vann said. 'We wouldn't be here if it was handled correctly.' Opening statements made in Ohio doctor's defamation trial against Mount Carmel Nelson said that Amy's access to drugs attracted the wrong people into her life who 'wanted her for her pain medication.' Through conducting their own interviews and obtaining records, Amy's family has come to believe the motivation behind the homicide was related to her pills and that multiple people were involved. 'We're not stopping until we get to the bottom of it, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who killed her,' Nelson said. NBC4 reached out to the three law enforcement agencies involved in Amy's case for comment. The Perry County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond, and the New Straitsville police chief said he has only held the position for a few weeks and deferred to the other agencies. The BCI said it is not currently actively investigating the case and also deferred to the other agencies. Amy's family is offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest in the homicide. They asked anyone with a tip to contact the Perry County Sheriff's Office at 740-342-4123. If you're a family member of an individual with an unsolved missing persons or homicide case in Ohio, reach out to aboldizar@ Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Mental health takes center stage at Bay Correctional Facility
Mental health takes center stage at Bay Correctional Facility

Yahoo

time6 days ago

  • Yahoo

Mental health takes center stage at Bay Correctional Facility

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – The Bay Correctional Facility drew over 155 inmates and 100 staff members for a Mental Health Week Workshop. According to a news release, the Bay County Facility looked to shed light on a perceived dark matter through this four-day event. Each day centered on positive methods of therapy and expression, according to Bay's Clinical Director Dr. I. Guya-Allen. Day one featured art therapy, and day two, Canine Program Director Annie Ryals and her team presented dog therapy. On day three, Dr. Guya-Allen gave a presentation to help staff and the participating population understand psychotherapy. On the final day, Bay Medical performed full sets of vitals before closing with guest speaker Beverly S. Brown, a local licensed Mental Health Provider with over ten years of clinical experience. Dr. Guya-Allen reported that the profound success of the Workshop is due to the dedicated work of the Mental Health team. She reminds those working in Corrections to: Concentrate on what you can control, Vent about important matters, Actively choose positive thoughts, Prioritize sleep, Move your body, Engage in or develop Peer Support Programs Encourage leadership engagement in which supervisors regularly check in with their teams to ensure that staff feel supported, valued and heard. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store