Thermea massage therapist arrested on sex assault charge

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This article was published 23/06/2023 (846 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A massage therapist faces a charge of sexual assault after an alleged incident last month at a prominent Winnipeg spa.

A spokesperson for Thermea confirmed Friday the business had received two complaints about an employee before ending the man’s contract May 16.

A woman in her 50s reported she was sexually assaulted during a massage therapy appointment May 16 at the Crescent Drive spa.

On May 19, the Winnipeg Police Service sex crimes unit began an investigation, after the woman told police she was touched in an unwanted and sexual manner, WPS said in a news release Friday.

On June 22, a 40-year-old man was arrested on one charge of sexual assault. He was released on an undertaking.

The man’s name was not released by police.

Sex crimes unit investigators are asking anyone who wishes to speak to them to call 204-986-6245 as the investigation continues.

A representative for Thermea stated the company had received two complaints about the massage therapist in question and subsequently ended his contract.

Thermea stated it suspended the man, conducted an internal investigation, and ended his contract May 16 — the same day the woman was allegedly sexually assaulted.

The company stated the employee was a relatively new hire and the two complaints it received were not sexual assault allegations but did warrant a suspension and investigation. Both complaints were logged the week of May 16, a company spokesman said.

“Thermea by Nordik Spa-Nature received two complaints regarding alleged incidents between a registered massage therapist and clients. This therapist’s contract was immediately suspended. After an internal investigation, Thermea ended its agreement with the contractor. The contractor’s last day on our premise was May 16,” Jeff Mayo, senior director of regional spa operations, wrote in an email.

“Winnipeg police followed up with Thermea on May 24 to investigate a sexual assault. Spa leadership treats any allegation of professional misconduct with the highest level of care and have fully co-operated with the Winnipeg Police Service in their investigation.”

Although Thermea’s statement refers to the accused as a registered massage therapist, the profession is not regulated in Manitoba. It means anyone can call themselves a registered massage therapist until planned legislative changes are implemented.

Tricia Weidenbacher, executive director of the Massage Therapy Association of Manitoba, said she doesn’t have any details of the case, including the man’s name, therefore cannot say if he is an association member.

In a profession that has worked to distance itself from massage parlour connotations, she said reputable massage therapists are affected when one is accused of criminal behaviour or misconduct.

In October, city police announced a sexual-assault charge against a 34-year-old male massage therapist accused of assaulting a woman in her 20s at a licensed business on the 2000 block of Portage Avenue.

“It does affect us,” Weidenbacher said Friday. “Any time something like this happens, and I think in any profession, there’s that cloud that sits over the profession for a little while. ‘Oh, what’s happening there? What’s wrong?’”

The association is one of four massage therapy professional organizations active in Manitoba.

Its members have to complete two years of training and regular professional development to maintain their memberships. Since it was founded in 1973, it has been pushing for regulation, Weidenbacher said.

The province approved of making massage therapy a regulated profession under Manitoba law, but those changes to the Regulated Health Professions Act haven’t yet been approved.

In a statement Friday, a provincial spokesman said the government is still working on requirements for four other professions to be represented under the act, after which work is expected to begin to establish a regulatory body for massage therapists.

“This is health care. We treat this as health care here at MTAM, and so when… something like this happens, yes, it does make things difficult, and we wish that we had this regulation in place so that we could further raise the standards,” Weidenbacher said.

katie.may@winnipegfreepress.com