Couple Who Ran Brothel Next to School Are Given 5 Years Probation

The owners of a Pomona massage parlor that served as a house of prostitution were sentenced to five years’ probation Friday in addition to having to turn over their property to an elementary school.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Terry A. Green also ordered that Herschel H. Jennings, 65, wear an electronic monitoring device for one year in lieu of serving a year in County Jail. He will be restricted to his home in San Bernardino County during that period except for such limited activities as visiting the doctor and grocery shopping. Green ordered him to begin his sentence May 21.

His wife, Kay, 64, was ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service.

The couple and their business, Wiljay Corp., were ordered to pay $59,400 in back taxes to the State Franchise Tax Board. They will not be allowed to operate any sex-related businesses.

The massage parlor, Swedish Salon, had operated since 1971 on Garey Avenue next to Abraham Lincoln Elementary School. Parents often complained that children found discarded lewd material that had blown against a chain-link fence.

The sentencing Friday was in accordance with a plea bargain in which the couple agreed to enter pleas on four tax and prostitution-related charges in exchange for dismissal of 18 other counts. Herschel Jennings pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to run a house of prostitution and two misdemeanor charges of operating the business. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of filing false corporate tax returns.

His wife pleaded no contest to the same four charges.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gail Ehrlich said the four convictions had exposed the couple to possible sentences of six years in prison plus one year in County Jail.

The agreement requires them to give the Swedish Salon site to the Pomona Unified School District. The district will demolish the property’s three buildings and use the land for portable classrooms or a playground for Lincoln Elementary, spokesman Bill Stelzner said Friday.

The land transfer process, which started shortly after the couple agreed to the plea arrangement in January, was expected to be completed Friday, Ehrlich said.

The couple are also being required to close down Pomona Valley Health spa on North Orange Avenue.

Kay Jennings’ lawyer, Richard J. Beada, said in an interview that the settlement was fair. But he argued that the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office should focus on more serious crimes instead of prosecuting the Jenningses.

“There is so much real crime going on out there,” he said.

Ehrlich countered that the Swedish Salon “has been an ongoing concern” for 30 years. “The criminal element was being attracted to it, and children could be harmed by its presence,” she said.