Police: Massage therapist arrested for sexual assault

A massage therapist at a Palo Alto massage parlor was arrested on Feb. 8 and charged with sexually assaulting a client during an appointment last November, police said.

Police learned about the incident on Nov. 10, when a woman in her 20s reported that she was sexually assaulted by her masseur earlier that day at Massage Envy on El Camino Real, according to a Palo Alto Police Department news release. The woman did not sustain any physical injury, police said.

The investigation ultimately revealed that the man who was charged with sexually assaulting the woman was a 42-year-old resident of San Jose. Officers submitted the case to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, who filed two felony counts of sexual penetration and sexual battery against him, police said in a news release.

A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge signed the arrest warrant on Jan. 18 and Palo Alto police took the man into custody without incident on Feb. 8. Police said he was at the home of one of his relatives on Washington Street in San Jose. Police booked the man into the Santa Clara County Main Jail, according to the news release.

Police said Massage Envy staff worked collaboratively with investigators and fired the man as soon as they learned about the incident. Officers also became aware that he had worked at other massage establishments in the South Bay though they are not aware of any additional victims, police said.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Police Department’s 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413 or send anonymous tips to paloalto@tipnow.org or (650) 383-8984.

Editor’s Note: The Palo Alto Online’s policy is to withhold the names of those arrested for most crimes until the District Attorney has determined there is sufficient evidence to file charges in the case. See our guidelines here.