A Tallahassee woman has been arrested twice in two weeks for prostitution and practicing massage without a license. The Florida Departments of Health and Law Enforcement have gotten numerous complaints from customers of a local massage parlor where the woman worked.
Gendi Li, 55, was first arrested on Jan. 22 after she solicited an undercover law enforcement officer. According to the Leon County Sheriffs office, agencies continued to get complaints that Li was back at work, and staged another undercover operation.
She was re-arrested Wednesday after soliciting an undercover Leon County Sheriff’s deputy at the Health Center—a massage parlor off Killearn Centre Court. In addition to a charge of solicitation of prostitution, Li also faces charges of practicing massage without a license—the same two charges she received after her first arrest.
Massage therapists are required to be licensed and have to undergo background checks. And lawmakers could soon raise penalties even more. Bills in the legislature would mandate that convictions on prostitution would bar applicants from massage therapy licenses, and that such charges could also jeopardize a businesses license. Lawmakers say it’s a move to crack down on prostitution and human trafficking.
