Jail time ordered for Utah massage therapist accused of inappropriately ... - Salt Lake Tribune

[massage]

A Layton massage therapist who admitted to inappropriately touching women during massage sessions was sentenced to jail on Thursday.

Richard Allen Dwaileebe, 45, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree felony sexual abuse, along with class A misdemeanor counts of unlawful and unprofessional conduct, and unlawful massage therapy.

Dwaileebe — who lost his license in 2012 for inappropriately touching two clients at an Ogden spa — was accused of touching the victims' breasts and genitals during subsequent massage sessions.

On Thursday, 2nd District Judge Joseph Bean sentenced Dwaileebe to spend 210 days in jail, according to Deputy Weber County Attorney Benjamin Willoughby. The prosecutor said Dwaileebe was also ordered to complete an inpatient treatment program, and will have to register as a sex offender. He is also prohibited from contacting the victims, and is banned from working as a massage therapist.


Willoughby said Dwaileebe was "very remorseful" during the Thursday sentencing, and called the acts "a sin."

Dwaileebe was arrested in September, after six women came forward with similar allegations that they were groped during a massage session, according to a Weber County Sheriff's Office press release.

"Dwaileebe claimed he was trained to perform a massage technique called 'Pelvic Floor Work,' which involves massaging the [genitalia] of the subject," according to the release, which added that "Pelvic Floor Work is reportedly a legitimate technique, but it can only be performed by a licensed chiropractor, not a massage therapist."

The incidents occurred between 2012 and March 2015, after Dwaileebe lost his license, according to court documents.

Dwaileebe traveled to the victims' homes, where he would conduct massage sessions that sometimes lasted several hours, police said.

The defendant has no prior criminal history, though he was investigated in 2012 for similar behavior. No criminal charges were filed then, but the Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing filed an emergency order prohibiting him from practicing massage.

The day after the emergency order was issued in 2012, Dwaileebe voluntarily surrendered his license, admitting that he had massaged the genitals of "multiple clients," and had massaged or touched the breasts of female clients without written consent, according to a DOPL document.

[email protected]


This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.