LISBON FALLS – A Korean woman accused of operating an illegal massage parlor has been indicted on federal prostitution charges in connection with an apparent East Coast sexual slave ring.

Three other Korean women who worked for Doo Ri Kim at the Asia Acupressure Therapy Center were not charged but face deportation. The business was in a small mall just beyond Midtown Shopping Center on Route 196 in Lisbon Falls.

Kim, 39, was indicted Tuesday on charges of interstate travel to facilitate prostitution and to distribute the proceeds of prostitution. She was being held without bail in the Cumberland County Jail.

The possibility of Asian prostitutes working in Maine surfaced last month after similar operations were shut down in Essex Junction and Burlington, Vt. Court documents in those cases revealed that investigations also were being conducted in Maine, New Jersey and New York City.

In January, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement began investigating possible prostitution activities by illegal aliens in Lisbon Falls.

Kim was arrested June 8 when federal agents and Lisbon Falls police raided the building that housed the Asia Acupressure Therapy Center.

Two other Korean women and two white males, all nude or partially dressed, were discovered by law enforcement officials at the Lisbon Road location, according to court documents.

A fourth Korean woman, who said she was responsible for cooking and doing laundry, also was found.

The two women who allegedly worked as prostitutes told investigators they had paid men to help them enter the United States illegally. All four women lived in the Lisbon Falls building, according to court documents.

Investigators found $5,100 in cash and $1,000 in money orders along with sex-related paraphernalia.

The two men police discovered at the massage parlor allegedly admitted to engaging in acts of prostitution and were charged by local police with soliciting prostitution, according to court documents.

As part of the investigation, Lisbon police Detectives Bryan Doyle and Bill Tapley traveled to several southern and central Maine communities in May to interview men caught on surveillance cameras going into the Lisbon Falls business.

In June, Doyle obtained a warrant to search the business. The detective was joined by six federal officials when the massage parlor was raided.