A man and woman were charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor Friday night after Gwinnett County police busted an alleged illegal strip club operating out of a Lilburn bar with dancers as young as 15 years old.
The owner of Lucky Billiards on Indian Trail-Lilburn Road, Jay Young Kim, was arrested, along with a dancer, Whitney Faith Blackburn.
Kim, 45, of Norcross, and Blackburn, 21, of Acworth, were released on bond Saturday morning.
According to a Gwinnett police incident report, an undercover officer went into the bar just before 11 p.m. Friday to investigate "numerous drug and possible prostitution complaints."
The officer "observed several women performing 'lap dances' for customers," the report states.
When the dancers, who were dressed in underwear, saw the officer, they "immediately ran towards the back room behind a closed curtain and began changing their clothes," according to the report.
In the back room, officers found money on the floor, as well as "a few pair of strippers shoes."
When officers questioned the women, they discovered that one was only 15 years old, police said.
That girl, also from Acworth, "stated that she has been coming here to dance for about six months," and told officers that Blackburn brought her to the club on numerous nights.
The underage girl was released to her mother's custody, and Blackburn was booked into the jail on a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Kim told officers that he was unaware of the ages of the dancers, but that he had been told that all were over 18. He was also booked into the jail early Saturday on the same misdemeanor charge.
The other dancers were not arrested.
Gwinnett police spokesman David Schiralli told the Gwinnett Daily Post that the bar's management contended that the women "were only merengue dancing," referring to the Latin American dance step.