A Chinese national who in 2023 was arrested for sexual assault at a massage parlor he owned in Ellsworth is now being held in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
Booking records at the Cumberland County Jail show that Chunze Xu, 65, was taken into custody by ICE on Saturday, April 12, and is being held on an immigration detainer.
ICE uses immigration detainers against unlawfully present noncitizens who have been arrested on criminal charges and who the agency has probable cause to believe are deportable from the U.S.
[RELATED: Owner of Several Maine Massage Parlors Charged with Sex Trafficking, Forced Labor…]
The Ellsworth American reported in July 2023 that Xu, then 63 and owner of “Cozy Massage” at 4 Union St. in Ellsworth, was arrested on charges of unlawful sexual contact with penetration and assault.
The alleged victim, a 23-year-old woman, had reported to police that she had been sexually assaulted while receiving a massage at the parlor.
Maine state business records show that Xu was the registered agent of Union Spa Inc., a massage parlor located at 4 Union St. in Ellsworth.
Although news outlets reported at the time of his 2023 arrest that Xu was from New York, ICE’s inmate locator tool indicates that his country of origin is the People’s Republic of China.
Saturday’s arrest marks the second time this year that a Chinese national who owned a massage parlor in Maine has been arrested by federal immigration agents.
In February, Tian “Adam” Tao, 54, owner of “Asian Massage” in Rockland, was arrested by Rockland Police on charges of sex trafficking, and was then transferred into the custody of ICE and was held at the Cumberland County Jail on a federal immigration hold.
Rockland Police said in December that they believe Tao’s massage parlor was tied to organized crime out of New York.
ICE stated following the arrest that Tao is a citizen of China who originally entered the U.S. lawfully in 2016, but violated his terms of admission.
