A woman who was allegedly molested during a massage session has told a court she was naked, fragile and in shock when the masseur started rubbing her breasts.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Another of the man’s six alleged victims told the ACT Supreme Court she was mortified to discover he was standing centimetres from her head with an erection while massaging her breasts.
But the court heard the woman could have mistaken a bottle in the man’s trousers for an erection.
The 47-year-old man is on trial before a jury, charged with committing acts of indecency on six female clients between 2006 and 2009.
His identity has been suppressed.
Yesterday, one of the alleged victims told the court yesterday the man massaged her breasts during a deep tissue massage session in 2008.
She said nothing at the time because she was shocked but later had an angry confrontation at the man’s shop.
When she complained, the man replied that it was normal to massage the breasts, she said.
The woman told the court she rejected the man’s comments, telling him she had been trained to give massages herself and there was no reason to touch the soft tissue around the breast area.
‘‘He realised that angle wasn’t going to work with me, so then he went into the blame game, ‘Why didn’t you say no, why didn’t you stop me?’’’ she said.
‘‘I said: ‘What do you expect, I’m naked, I’m fragile, I was on a table, I was in shock'.’’
After that, the man began to cry and said his actions were out of character.
In cross-examination, she denied that she confronted the masseur and threatened him because she was looking for a free massage.
She agreed she had been ‘‘cranky’’ that day because she had been unable to find another masseur.
Defence barrister James Lawton suggested to the woman that she demanded a free massage or she would go to police.
She rejected the suggestion.
The woman agreed that she had accepted a Thai massage from the man, which he performed while she was fully clothed on the floor of his shop. She said she had felt empowered after confronting him.
The court heard the woman later sent the man an email saying he was a fantastic masseur and she was disappointed he had closed his shop.
Another woman gave evidence she was mortified and thought, ‘‘This can’t be happening,’’ as the man announced he was going to massage her breasts.
She told the court she saw an erection or a large bulge in his trousers.
Mr Lawton suggested to the woman the man simply had a bottle in his pocket.
‘‘It was definitely not a bottle in his pants,’’ she replied.
The trial continues before Chief Justice Terence Higgins tomorrow.
