KENNEWICK _ Former Kennewick Mayor Bill McKay’s visits to massage parlors have raised many questions in the wake of his resignation from the city council.
When the Herald reported that McKay had admitted to police that he paid for sexual services during his personal “investigations” of suspected illicit massage parlors the public outcry was quick and furious.
Some readers wanted to know why he wasn’t charged with a crime and who made the decision not to investigate his actions. Others have asked if anything was done with the information he gave police.
Kennewick police Commander Aaron Clem told the Tri-City Herald that McKay was never the focus of a criminal investigation and was treated the same as anyone else who might come forward with information about illegal services at a massage business, even if they admitted to paying.
Officials say they have used his list of about 17-20 businesses that he visited to look into at least some suspected illegal operations. But, to date, no one has been in Benton County has been charged with a crime.
Since the Herald’s initial report, Benton County Prosecutor Eric Eisinger has asked the Pierce County prosecutor to review the handling of McKay’s admissions and to determine if he should be charged with a crime.
McKay has declined to talk with the Herald, but he has been looking for a defense attorney, according to previous text messages he sent to Eisinger.
The Herald recently received more documents and interviews from the city under Washington’s Open Public Records Act, shedding more light on what led to McKay’s resignation. But other questions remain.
- What led to McKay’s police interview?
A timeline of events provided to the Herald by police Chief Chris Guerrero and City Manager Marie Mosley show McKay began trying to discuss his visits to massage parlors the day before a raid on a Clearwater Avenue massage business on March 1.
McKay first approached Guerrero after a city council workshop Feb. 28 to discuss illicit massage parlors. McKay said he had concerns about them.
“He wanted to confirm that even if both adults had consented to sex, if it is still unlawful if money was exchanged. I told him that was still prostitution and this is illegal,” said Guerrero’s notes.
“I also told him that there was a current investigation we were aware of and a potential search warrant was being served soon,” Guerrero wrote.
McKay asked to set up a time to come by and discuss a list of 20 potentially illicit massage businesses he had found.
Guerrero noticed the city manager was standing nearby, and later she asked what the conversation was about. He said, “It was clear (McKay) did not want her aware of the conversation.”
Afterward, Guerrero told Mosley and Fire Chief Chad Michael that McKay said he had information and a list of massage parlors offering sexual services.
- What did McKay tell the police chief?
After the next day’s Chelan County-led raid on the Clearwater Avenue massage business, McKay stopped by the police station about 4 p.m.
It was the same place where McKay would later admit to detectives he paid for a sexual service he called a “happy ending.”
But on March 1, McKay provided Guerrero with a handwritten list of the massage businesses he had been “investigating,” starting in about 2020 after injuring his back and being unable to get into his chiropractor.
The list included places McKay listed as “offering full sex,” “happy endings” or “massage only.”
McKay told Guerrero at that meeting that he never paid for sexual services, but believed that many of the women were pushing those services because they weren’t making enough money.
“He said when he has been propositioned he tells them to give him a good massage and he would tip them better,” Guerrero wrote.
“I explained to him that we have done investigations at massage parlors in the past and I recalled cameras being at the locations. He inquired if they were in rooms. I told him I remembered believing they were in the lobbies and hallways, and unsure if they were in the rooms,” wrote the chief.
Guerrero asked McKay to meet with detectives for a full interview.
- Who decided how the case would be handled?
On March 6, a week before McKay’s interview with detectives, Guerrero met with Mosley and Deputy City Manager Dan Legard to discuss how to handle the issue, according to their written statements.
It was decided at that meeting that McKay’s involvement would be treated the same as the department would handle any other investigation where someone came forward with information of illegal activity.
It is the department’s policy to go after suspected sex traffickers, not potential customers.
- What did McKay tell detectives?
During the hour-long interview, McKay detailed a list of massage parlors that allegedly had offered him sexual services.
McKay told three detectives he only ever received sexual acts such as “happy endings,” or “hand jobs,” but did not have sex with the women.
The full list he gave to detectives included five businesses he believed were selling sex, five offering “happy endings” and six that did not offer sexual services.
He told detectives which businesses he had gone to multiple times, but did not say what took place on the return trips or why he went back to businesses he allegedly already knew were offering sexual services.
Also during the interview, McKay made derogatory comments about the age, looks, weight and intelligence of the women he believed were being sex trafficked and whether he found them attractive.
- Is there video of McKay at the parlors?
During the interview, detectives said they believed there may have been a “teddy bear camera” in the Clearwater massage parlor and asked McKay what they would find if they reviewed the video.
It was at that point he admitted to having paid for a “happy ending.”
Kennewick police have confirmed to the Herald that there was no hidden camera or video from the business, investigators were just using a common interviewing technique to get more information.
- Was McKay conducting a real ‘investigation’?
Evelyn Lusignan, the city’s spokeswoman, told the Herald in an email that at no time was McKay asked to investigate the businesses. This has been confirmed by police and prosecutors.
Lusignan said that McKay had not reported the alleged crimes in the nearly two years he claimed to have been investigating before the March 2023 police interview.
“There are no reports Mr. McKay tried to report sex trafficking before this interview. He verbally provided information at least once previously that was not substantive or actionable in nature and was not documented,” Lusignan said in an email.
Chief Guerrero wrote that he told McKay multiple times to stop going to the businesses after learning what he was doing.
- Did McKay keep visiting massage parlors?
After his initial conversation with the police chief, McKay continued trying to discuss suspected illicit massage parlors over the next few months with various city employees and the mayor pro tem.
Guerrero’s timeline of his conversations showed McKay admitting to visiting more massage parlors both before and after his conversations with police.
Guerrero said at that point he was more direct in telling McKay to stop.
- Why wasn’t McKay charged with a crime?
Beyond the decision to treat McKay the same as anyone else coming forward with information, several reasons why he wasn’t charged or under formal investigation have been given.
Commander Clem said the police department didn’t have enough information for a prosecutor to review for possible charges.
“In order for us to do anything, we have to have corroborating evidence,” Clem told the Herald. “There is no way that we can charge him on the crime because we can’t charge on (his) admissions alone.”
They said the problem is additional information is notoriously hard to get. There would need to be video showing him getting the service or witness testimony.
The city tried to send the case to Eisinger, but Eisinger told Guerrero he had a conflict of interest because of his political involvement with McKay and would not want to be involved in the investigation.
Guerrero said he asked Eisinger where the case would be referred to, and was told that Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Laurel Holland had an upcoming meeting with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and would recommend sending it to them. Holland also held an appointment with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
City leaders then met for an update on the case and are told the case will go to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, as a federal case and their office will do the investigation and followup.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has no record of the case being referred to it beyond Holland being involved in a general conversation concerning suspected illicit massage parlors.
While Eisinger was aware of that McKay provided information, the prosecutor told the Herald the case was never referred to his office for possible charges. Eisinger added it wasn’t a matter of him sitting on information and not acting on it.
No further inquiries were made until Eisinger asked for a special prosecutor to review the case after the Herald reported on the case. Pierce County Prosecutor Mary Robnett is now reviewing the case.
- What happened to the raided businesses?
The raid on a Clearwater Avenue massage business stemmed from a 7-month investigation by Chelan County’s Columbia River Drug Task Force. Detectives were looking into massage parlors owned by Linhui Yan.
That led investigators to one of the four parlors Yan owned in Kennewick. When police searched the business on March 1, no one was inside.
Yan and his wife, Yan Yang, have been charged in Chelan County Superior Court, but investigators believe they have fled the country.
Just over two months later in May, several other Kennewick massage parlors were inspected by the state Department of Health. Kennewick detectives and Mirror Ministries, a nonprofit that helps human trafficking survivors, helped in the searches.
Six massage businesses were shut down because of problems with their licenses, and four of them were suspected to be involved in sex trafficking.
Four of the nine women found living inside the retail shops accepted help from Mirror Ministries. It’s unknown what happened to the other five.
Clem told the Herald that information from McKay and others led them to participate in the health department’s searches on May 16.
- Were any parlor owners charged after May 16 inspections?
No one was charged after the May 16 operation.
While police went into the businesses as part of an investigation, there wasn’t a search warrant that would allow them to gather evidence. So they only had the information they could see and what the women could tell them, said Clem.
While they haven’t found enough evidence to move forward with charges, Clem said they aren’t done investigating.
“If we get information that will allow us to charge … the owners of the massage parlors, then we will pursue those charges,” he said. “If we’re able to develop any probable cause, we’ll go down that route.”
However, the May 16 operation helped Kennewick create new regulations for massage businesses.
Since the new city rules took effect, police have visited two other businesses suspected of sex trafficking and they’ve been closed down, he said.
