A 48-year-old masseur from Den Bosch is suspected of fornication. During one of his treatments, he allegedly massaged the breasts of a 21-year-old woman. Justice therefore demanded a community service order of 120 hours against the man on Thursday.
The victim, a man in transition, booked a full body massage at the Den Bosch resident’s home in January 2023. The victim still had the body characteristics of a woman at the time. When she lay on the treatment table with her upper body bare, the masseur allegedly massaged her breasts without being asked.
Customers asking for nude massages
Intrusive and inappropriate comments were also made in the victim’s eyes. For example, the resident of Den Bosch is said to have said that he sometimes receives questions from customers for nude massages or massages with a ‘happy ending’. A text message asking him to come back again to ‘try other techniques’ was also not well received.
Once home, the victim’s mother noticed that something was not quite right. When she asked further, her child burst into tears. The victim went to the police.
“During the massage, the tension only increased. The feeling intensified that everything was wrong,” the victim candidly told the judge on Thursday. “At that moment I was unable to say anything. It was as if I was paralyzed.”
The masseur, who stopped his massage practices from the moment of arrest, indicated that he was very shocked at how things turned out. In his opinion, his client experienced the massage completely differently than he did. Moreover, he said he was not aware of any harm about his comments and message afterwards. “If I had known that, I would not have asked to come back again,” he told the judge.
‘It was the pectoral muscle’
He also saw touching the breasts differently, as the judge described. “I didn’t knead the breasts. Not at all. It was the pectoral muscle,” he emphasized.
The masseur explained that he always asks if people want a towel to put on their chest, but according to him the customer did not need that at the time. The suspect said that in such cases he grabs the pectoral muscle. To check whether everything is satisfactory, he always asks several times in between whether the massage is good, he explained. And that was the impression he got at the time, he said.
The public prosecutor was of the opinion that the actions took place without consent. “But that is also not relevant, because it is a criminal offense. Indecent acts are punishable in themselves.” It is not the first time that a customer has filed a complaint against the masseur. A previous case has been dismissed.
Professional ban
The Public Prosecution Service has demanded a community service of 120 hours with a suspended prison sentence of one month. This means that in principle he does not have to serve the prison sentence. Justice also wants the suspect to be banned from working for two years and believes compensation of 750 euros is appropriate for the victim.
The masseur’s lawyer argued for acquittal. He was of the opinion, among other things, that there is a lack of evidence to prove what exactly happened and that it was fornication.
The court will make its ruling on February 19.
