2nd massage therapist accuses Living Chandler founder Matthew Coates of indecency - AZCentral

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Lindsey Collom Arizona Republic

Published 9:22 PM EST Feb 19, 2019

A Chandler man accused of masturbating in front of a massage therapist is facing a second charge of sexual indecency, this time on a claim that he exposed his genitals to another masseuse.

Matthew Coates, 43, has a hearing next month in Chandler Municipal Court on a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure stemming from an incident in April 2018. Coates is a real-estate agent and co-founded the Living Chandler Facebook group, which has more than 62,000 members.

Police say Coates met the masseuse when she provided him and his wife complimentary massages in January 2018 as a way of thanking them for their work in the community. The alleged exposure happened when he returned to her practice alone for a massage in April.

According to police records, the woman decided to tell authorities in January —nearly nine months later — after seeing news reports about allegations that Coates masturbated in front of a massage therapist in late 2018. He is charged with a misdemeanor count of public sexual indecency in that case.

Coates has pleaded not guilty to both charges. His next court appearance on both charges was set for March 8. His attorney, Todd Coolidge, declined to comment for this story.

Coates and his wife are no longer affiliated with Living Chandler. Two Valley real-estate agents have taken over administrative duties of the Facebook group.

Latest allegation


The woman told police that Coates exposed his genitals to her at the beginning of his April 25 massage appointment in the room she rents at a fitness studio in Chandler.

"She said she wanted to give him the 'benefit of the doubt' at the time, but having learned of his later activities she now wanted to make a report," according to a Chandler police report.

She had instructed Coates to undress to his level of comfort, get in between the sheets on the massage table and lie face down. Meanwhile, she told Coates, she would exit the room to prepare hot towels and reenter only when the client indicated it was "OK" to do so, the report says.

She told the investigator she reentered the room to find Coates face up on the massage table with the top sheet halfway up his thigh, his penis and scrotum exposed, the report says.

The woman said she wordlessly pulled up the sheet to cover Coates' nakedness and commenced with the 90-minute massage.

The detective wrote in the report: "I asked if there was any chance she had come in prematurely, and she said there was no chance."

The session was mostly silent, and she said Coates didn't mention his prior nudity, nor did she. After he left, she wrote a note on the back on his new-patient form about what had happened as a reminder not to book with him again, the report says.

The massage therapist said she told her husband, her sister and the fitness-studio manager about the incident.

"She did not tell anyone the person's name until after the news story about his public sexual indecency broke. This was because she felt a responsibility to be professional in not naming a client's indiscretion." All three corroborated the massage therapist's account, the detective wrote.

Unable to reach Coates at his home, the detective contacted the attorney representing Coates in his original sexual indecency case. The attorney agreed to bring Coates in to the Chandler Police Department to be fingerprinted and photographed on Jan. 31.

The detective said Coates acknowledged the allegations "but did not respond." He was cited and released.

Nov. 29 incident


According to a Chandler police report, a 30-year-old woman who works as a freelance massage therapist reported to officers that on Nov. 29, Coates masturbated toward the end of a 90-minute massage appointment.

The woman, who contacted police the same night, told the investigating officer she felt uncomfortable and cut the appointment a few minutes short, the police report says.

She told police Coates told her, "You have me aroused," the report says. When she responded, "Excuse me," Coates apologized and stopped. As she continued with the massage, he began to masturbate again, the woman told police. That's when she told him the massage was over and she left the room, according to the police report.

When Coates paid her $90 for the appointment, he added $50 in gratuity and asked her what she thought "about him being aroused," the woman told police. She responded that she's not the massage therapist for him, according to the police report.

Coates, in his interview with police on Dec. 27, acknowledged "touching himself" during the massage, the report says.

Coates told the officer that he "frequented other massage parlors where the massage therapist would initiate masturbatory contact," according to the report. "At no point did he state or suggest Ms. (redacted) did anything like this during his massage."

The first massage therapist has since filed a civil lawsuit against Coates and his wife in Maricopa County Superior Court. In the lawsuit, she alleges infliction of emotional distress, civil assault and negligence and is seeking damages "in an amount sufficient to punish Defendants for their intentional and willful acts and to make an example out of them so that others do not engage in similar conduct in the future."

About Living Chandler


Coates and his wife founded the Living Chandler Facebook group in 2016. The online group works to build a sense of community, sharing information about the city, hosting events and coordinating charity drives.

Real-estate agents Jera Banks and Adam Bailey took over administration of the website Tuesday. Coates and his wife are no longer affiliated with the Living Chandler Facebook group.

The Arizona Republic partnered with Coates for a time in 2017, sharing news stories on Living Chandler and publishing occasional columns from the Coateses on azcentral.com and in the Chandler Republic.

Have a news tip? Reach the reporter at Lindsey.Collom@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter: @LindseyCollom.

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