INGLEWOOD POLICE TARGET OF SEX INQUIRY

At least six current or former Inglewood police officers are under investigation for allegedly having sex with female employees of massage parlors and other adult businesses that have been the target of a high-profile law enforcement crackdown.

The internal affairs investigation by the Inglewood Police Department began after federal authorities launched an investigation of money laundering and prostitution involving women smuggled into Los Angeles from Asia.

That probe, which resulted in charges against more than two dozen people, led to allegations that Inglewood officers engaged in the sexual liaisons -- sometimes in uniform -- during work hours and off duty, according to several local and federal sources familiar with the case.

Evidence seized by federal agents and local investigators included “very detailed ledgers” that suggested Inglewood officers were receiving sexual favors at the businesses without paying, according to one source close to the investigation.

The ledgers, the source said, had the names of customers and the amounts they paid except when the customers were police officers. In those cases the women allegedly entered a symbol.

Word of the inquiry comes less than two months after the FBI confirmed that it was investigating two Inglewood police officers in the alleged rape of a woman they stopped on suspicion of prostitution. The woman’s attorney said this week that he has filed a claim against the city and is awaiting an answer from authorities on whether the two officers have been arrested or charged.

Though he and other city officials would not disclose details about the new inquiry, Inglewood Councilman Ralph L. Franklin said it was aimed at determining whether the alleged sexual misconduct involved a large number of officers over an extended period of time. He said the FBI was assisting police in the investigation.

Franklin also said the department was trying to determine if any ranking officers in the department were involved in collusion with the officers suspected of misconduct.

Numerous law enforcement officials and city leaders said the Inglewood Police Department’s internal affairs unit will ultimately recommend whether any officers should face criminal charges.

To date, sources say, none of the officers has been fired, though some have retired or left the city for other departments.

The internal affairs investigation began more than a year ago when several Inglewood massage parlors and tanning salons were the focus of federal allegations of money laundering and prostitution. To date, 18 people have pleaded guilty in that investigation, and four others -- including the alleged owner of the brothels, Kimberly Mao -- are awaiting trial.

Mao has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges and has repeatedly denied involvement in prostitution or money laundering.

But last week, in a group interview organized by Mao, a dozen women who worked for her at the businesses told The Times that they had seen or heard of officers coming into the massage parlors and sometimes demanding sexual services.

The women, who denied they were prostitutes, recalled several specific incidents, including one in which officers donned masks to hide their identities and pointed guns at employees. Another employee told The Times that an older officer exposed himself in an unsuccessful effort to have her engage in sex with him.

Sources familiar with the misconduct allegations said that federal authorities, including the U.S. attorney’s office and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, began hearing about the alleged involvement of police officers last year.

But Assistant U.S. Atty. Carmen Luege, who is prosecuting Mao and her co-defendants, said she was not aware of any federal probe of the Inglewood officers.

Customs agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice declined to comment other than to say that if the agency uncovered evidence of misconduct or criminal activity by other law enforcement officers, it would refer the matter to the appropriate law enforcement agency for investigation. Given the nature of the allegations, that agency would probably be the FBI. An FBI spokeswoman said she could not confirm nor deny that an expanded investigation was underway.

Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn would not address specific questions about the investigation other than to say no officers have been fired and that he was confident the department would do a thorough job investigating the alleged misconduct.

“They are on top of it and doing their due diligence,” Dorn said. “They are doing what you would expect our police force to do. You have to be very careful when you’re doing this type of investigation. You don’t want to ruin anyone’s career or create problems with families without having actual proof and proof that would stand up in a court of law.”

Inglewood interim Police Chief J. I. Davis, who took over the department after the investigation was underway, would only say that his agency was actively pursuing a “difficult and sensitive” inquiry.

Inglewood, a working-class city of 112,000, has long struggled with prostitution problems. Because of its proximity to Los Angeles International Airport, Inglewood has numerous hotels lining its main commercial streets.

The investigation comes as the department, the seventh-largest police agency in the county, struggles to fill two dozen vacancies in its 213-officer force.

At a town hall meeting Thursday night, police commanders said they were doing everything possible to fill the positions, and many citizens applauded the efforts to increase the size of the force.

During the meeting, police officials said a top priority has been to combat prostitution in the city by dramatically reducing the number of massage parlors that could serve as fronts for sexual encounters. Since 2004, the department’s efforts have cut the number of massage parlors from 23 to seven, a police official told the town hall meeting. There was no mention of the internal investigation.

Since that investigation began, Inglewood police as well as the FBI have begun a separate inquiry into the alleged rape of a Florida woman who was stopped by two patrol officers on suspicion of prostitution.

In that incident, which is also under investigation by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, a 23-year-old woman alleged that the officers confronted her on Century Boulevard on a Sunday night as she left her hotel to have dinner at a fast-food restaurant. The thoroughfare has pockets that have long been known for prostitution.

The woman, who has said she was in town with her boyfriend to visit her mother for the holidays, alleged that the officers accused her of being a prostitute and demanded that she take them back to her hotel to prove she was not a streetwalker.

At the hotel, according to her attorney, the night manager verified that the woman was from Florida and a registered guest at the hotel. But one officer insisted that she take him to her room while the other officer waited by the patrol car, attorney Dylan Pollard said.

It was there, the woman has said, that she was raped.

ashley.surdin@latimes.com

greg.krikorian@latimes.com

Times staff writers Andrew Blankstein and Stuart Silverstein contributed to this report.