The ongoing investigation into houses of prostitution being operated in the area took another turn this week resulting in felony charges being filed against two women now accused of engaging in human sex trafficking, according to Montoursville police.

Arrest warrants were filed Monday at the office of District Judge Gary Whiteman against Xia Sun, 42, of Philadelphia, and Liuping Li, 49, formerly of 440 Broad St., Montoursville.

That is the same address as the Jia Yuan Spa, a massage business that was nothing more than a front for a house of prostitution, investigators allege.

Li, who was arrested last month on prostitution-related offenses, was the manager of the business while Sun was the owner and operator of the spa, borough Deputy Chief Clinton Gardner stated in an affidavit.

The people at the Jia Yuan Spa worked for Sun and Li, who “recruited, solicited, harbored and maintained individuals who were subject to sexual and labor servitude,” Gardner, the lead investigator, alleged in a criminal complaint.

One source who worked at the spa reported to police that they were “held against their will and that threats were made toward them if they attempted to leave or said they did not want to provide sexual services for the ‘clients,'” Gardner said in the affidavit.

The source said there also were threats that their pay would be withheld as would essential documents such as passports and identification cards, Gardner added.

The former employee told investigators that Sun and Li encouraged workers “to recruit young girls since the ‘clients’ like ‘new, young girls.’ Multiple women worked at the spa, but they all used fake names and would only see each other in passing when they rotated into the spa,” Gardner said.

Most of the employees did not speak English, he added.

Sun faces a total of 20 felonies while Li has been charged with eight. The charges for both women ranged from trafficking in individuals and involuntary servitude to dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities and unlawful conduct regarding documents.

Gardner said Sun, who controlled all the money, “has prior criminal charges for prostitution as well as for operating a spa without a license.” He noted that there were “no local tax filings submitted for Sun or the two ’employees’ who were present” in the building when law enforcement earlier raided the business.

There was no licensed massage therapist within the business, and Jia Yuan Spa itself was never licensed, Gardner said.

Neighbors told investigators that Jia Yuan Spa operated at “all hours, which is common of an illicit criminal operation such as trafficking of individuals,” Gardner said.

Neighbors also stated that seldom, if ever, did they see anyone “other than the owner going in and out of the spa,” which was another indication of keeping the human trafficking victims “isolated,” Gardner said.

Li, whose last known address was of Allentown,” was released on $200,000 bail on the previous charges of promoting prostitution. She waived her preliminary hearing in that case.