Brandon massage therapist charged with 6 more counts of sexual assault

A Brandon massage therapist already facing two charges of sexual assault has been charged with another six counts after more people have made allegations against him, police say.

The 54-year-old man was charged on Nov. 28, after two women accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments while also touching them in a sexual manner on separate occasions, Brandon police said.

Brandon police Sgt. Kirby Sararas told CBC News on Wednesday that not long after police released information on the first two charges, six other women came forward with similar accusations against the same man, despite not releasing his name or the clinic he worked at.

"I do think that when people hear other stories that are similar to theirs, they do get the courage to come forward as well," Sararas said. 

The reports were all made separately, police said.

The man was arrested again on Tuesday and charged with six more counts of sexual assault dating from February to August 2019. Sararas believes there is potential for more victims and encourages anyone who feels they had an experience to contact Brandon police.

Need for regulation 

Tricia Weidenbacher, managing director  of the Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba, called news of the man's arrest disappointing. 

"It seems like everyday we get calls or concerns from the public regarding people who are not properly trained, or calling themselves a [Registered Massage Therapist] when they're not ... the regulatory college would have the ability to stop people from practising," she said.  

Weidenbacher said the industry has been calling for regulation for more than a decade and is now in a queue to be drafted into the province's Regulated Health Professions Act.

She said regulating the industry would make it more transparent and stands to protect the public. 

"It also gives the title protection to the legitimate RMTs, who are doing everything right, maintaining standards, maintaining professional boundaries and responsibilities and making sure the public can feel secure when they are finding a massage therapist," she said. 

It would also allow the regulatory college to suspend or cancel the licenses of its members in the event of allegations of misconduct.  

Ask questions

Until that happens, Weidenbacher said the public should ask lots of questions about a massage therapist's schooling, techniques and if the belong to any professional organization.

"Some people, they go and have their treatment and something happens and they don't remember the therapist's name, they don't know if they belong to any association, they know very little about the therapists themselves or the people working in that clinic," said Weidenbacher. "It's about protecting the public."

Police said the therapist was working as an independent contractor at a business at the time of the alleged incidents. Since his initial arrest, he has taken a leave of absence and is no longer seeing clients out of the business.

The man will appear in court on all eight charges on Jan. 20.

Brandon is about 200 kilometres west of Winnipeg.