5 more women make sexual assault allegations against Brandon massage therapist - CBC.ca

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A Brandon man who was working as a massage therapist faces five new charges of sexual assault, in addition to the eight existing charges for which he is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Michael Petrowski, 55, was arrested on Friday in connection with the five new charges, Brandon police said.


In total, 13 women have told police they were sexually assaulted by the massage therapist.

Initially, two women accused the massage therapist of making inappropriate sexual comments while also touching them in a sexual manner on separate occasions.

One of the women told police she was sexually assaulted in the fall of 2018, and a second assault occurred on Oct. 30, 2019. Petrowski was arrested on those allegations on Nov. 28.

Police said the therapist was working as an independent contractor at a business at the time of the alleged assaults.

Brandon police Sgt. Kirby Sararas said last month that six more women came forward to independently report similar occurrences that happened between February and August 2019. Petrowski was arrested again on Dec. 17.

"I do think that when people hear other stories that are similar to theirs, they do get the courage to come forward as well," Sararas said.

The reports were all made separately, police said.

Police were informed at the time of the initial arrest he was not practicing at the business, but they are unable to confirm his activities now. "We certainly hope that he's not practicing anywhere," Kirby said. Petrowski was not held in custody after Friday's arrest.

Since Dec. 17, five more people told police about similar incidents that occurred between last spring and fall.

Petrowski is scheduled to appear in court in relation to the five latest charges on Feb. 10.