Following a raid at a Hubbard spa that led to several charges against an employee on Friday, the Hubbard community is fighting back against sex crimes happening in town.

Some Hubbard City and Township residents took their concerns to city leaders, asking how the business was able to operate without proper licenses.

The building where 3C Spa operated is now vacant after last week's raid led to Furong Li's arrest. On Monday, she pled not guilty to solicitation, promoting prostitution, and practicing medicine without a license.

According to a statement from Hubbard PD, the spa was the focus of a search warrant issued in August of 2024 that was also done alongside the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force.

"It just fueled the fire," said Diana Edwards of Hubbard Twp. "We don't want this in our community and we're working as residents jointly to get it out of our area. 3C Foot Spa was located very close to Hubbard schools. We have children walking free and we dont want them to be scared and we dont want anything to happen."

Diana Edwards added she's concerned about the truck stops off of I-80 being an additional target for prostitution and sex trafficking. 

"We want a family-friendly place," said Jennifer Roth of Hubbard Twp. "We want to live in a community that is not high crime."

The concern lingers as the community fights to keep prostitution and human trafficking out of their community. Some are even calling on the administration to crack down on businesses that operate without proper licenses.

"The stuff that we see on the national news is playing out in our backyard," Township Trustee Jason Tedrow said. "People are being put in positions against their will. We need to be sure we're bringing in business that's for our community and that doesn't bring something detrimental into it."

Tedrow said he looked into Flushing, New York, where Li is from, and is concerned over its reputation as being the human trafficking hotspot.

"This isn't want we should be bringing into the community," Tedrow said. "Businesses like these often have similar issues. When concerns were raised last summer, it should have been brought to the forefront and it wasn't. These issues affect property values."

"Being ignorant is not an excuse that you didn't know what was going on," said Trina Rich, Owner of Hubbard's Healthy Balance Massage Center to Hubbard City Council on Monday. 

Rich said all employees at Healthy Balance Massage Center must have a state-issued massage license, which involves passing a criminal background check.

"When people come in [to Healthy Balance Massage Center] assuming that we are that business [3C Foot Spa] and expect us to perform that same act, it is hurtful and it's uncalled for," she said.

Rich states it's up to the city to enforce reflexology licenses, prompting a broader discussion on unregulated businesses. Mayor Ben Kyle agrees more needs to be done to maintain safe business practices in town.

"We want to keep our community safe," said Mayor Ben Kyle. "We want to keep everyone licensed, healthy, and a part of the community. How can we do better? How can we look at different things that maybe other communities have done to solve some problems that they've encountered in the past?" he said to 21 News. 

"There is always going to be situations happening around our truck stops," Tedrow added. "We hope to work with the police force to better address some of those issues. This is something we dont want in our community."

"This isn't what we came here for. We dont want this here and need to work together to get it out of our community. This isn't what we moved here for," Edwards said.

Li is due back in court on Wednesday, March 5. It's still unclear if any further arrests could be made out of 3C Foot Spa. Hubbard Police encourage anyone with information about human trafficking crimes to call the Trumbull County Dispatch Center at 330-675-2730.