According to The Patch, a 61-year-old massage therapist, Ruiwen He, is charged with third-degree sexual abuse and forcible touching of a 20-year-old woman after inappropriately touching her while giving her a massage.
Police arrived at Unique Foot Spa around 3:15 pm on August 3, 2020, after the report was made. Unique Foot Spa is located at 3348 Jerusalem Ave, Wantagh, NY 11793.
According to police, while Ruiwen was giving the woman a massage, he inappropriately touched her in her groin area. She called the police, but he left the scene before they arrived. He was located shortly after and placed under arrest.
Attorney contributor Laurence Banville, an experienced sexual assault lawyer, licensed in New York, represents victims of sexual assaults in civil lawsuits. In an interview, Laurence provided the following legal commentary on the rights of victims sexual assault in a massage parlor:
He began by saying: Across the country, there have been hundreds of reports of massage therapists sexually assaulting their clients. The massage therapy industry has widespread issues with sexual assault. These victims have legal rights and may have the right to file a civil sexual assault lawsuits against the spas and massage studios in which they were assaulted.
We later asked Laurence what legal obligations do massage parlor owners have to their clients? He replied: “owners of these businesses are responsible for ensuring their clients’ safety and making sure their massage therapists can be trusted.” He furthers, “when a massage therapist is arrested for sexually assaulting a client, the victim and their families should question whether the assault was preventable and whether it happened due to negligence by the spa owner.” He concluded that “if a victim’s lawyer can prove their abuse was a result of negligence by the spa, then the victim and their family may have a case.”
https://patch.com/new-york/wantagh/nassau-massage-therapist-charged-sexually-abusing-client