Five years after "fondling" a client during a massage, leaving the victim "crying and feeling violated", a masseur has been sentenced to time behind bars.
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"The actions of the defendant were done under the guise of the therapeutic massage ... [he] used this as an opportunity to touch the victim in a sexual manner," magistrate Jane Campbell said on Friday.
Timothy van Eyle, 31, only had two or three weeks of experience at Civic's Spa Mint in early 2019, when he massaged a woman and left her feeling "confused and uncomfortable".
Van Eyle was found guilty of committing an act of indecency without consent in 2021, however, after three legal appeals his bid for innocence has been dismissed and his sentence finally handed down.
In the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday, Ms Campbell sentenced the sex offender to 10 months jail, to be suspended after two months upon van Eyle entering into a good behaviour order.
The magistrate found that during the massage van Eyle had moved a sheet to expose the victim's chest and "fondled [her] breasts in a sexual manner".
"The act was done for sexual gratification," Ms Campbell stated.
The victim had described feeling "confused and uncomfortable" when van Eyle indecently assaulted her, and left the clinic "crying and feeling violated".
Ms Campbell said the victim had placed her trust in the masseur and was in a "particularly vulnerable position".
After the indecent assault, van Eyle remained employed at the same massage clinic. His employer was informed on the day of the crime, and later when he was found guilty.
Since then, the business has introduced a form stating "I understand there will be no treatment to erogenous zones". There is no also a diagram where clients can indicate what parts of the body they want to be treated.
On Friday, Ms Campbell said van Eyle's "continued employment demonstrates that his employer must hold him in high regard despite the finding of guilt".
She stated the 31-year-old continued to deny the crime despite the guilty verdict, "claiming miscommunication issues between him and the victim".
in January 2022, van Eyle had successfully appealed the guilty finding in the Supreme Court.
The saga didn't end there, with then-Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC taking the successful appeal to the ACT Court of Appeals.
In December 2022, a full bench found that Justice Loukas-Karlsson erred while deciding to acquit van Eyle and the case was sent back to the Supreme Court.
Van Eyle's appeal against his initial guilty verdict was therefore once again heard, this time by Justice Verity McWilliam.
In March, Justice McWilliam dismissed van Eyle's appeal and rejected his claims the verdict was unreasonable or the sentencing magistrate had failed to give adequate reasons for that verdict.
The case then went back before Ms Campbell for sentencing.
Van Eyle will be eligible for release in June 2024.
