A massage therapist convicted of sexual assault in Airdrie will not be going to jail because of COVID-19 risk.
Upendra Bhatt, 63 was convicted last February of sexually assaulting two female clients on separate occasions at his Airdrie clinic after pleading guilty to the assaults which occurred in 2017 and 2018, at the time he was the co-owner of Blossom’s Massage and Spa.
A judge has found an Airdrie massage therapist guilty of sexual assault.
In a written decision this week he was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day which will be followed by12 months of probation.
Bhatt will now be expected to remain at home 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the first year of his sentence. Once the first year is completed he will be on a strict curfew for a subsequent eight months and as part of the conditions of his sentence, he is also no longer a licensed massage therapist and despite his wife still running the business, is banned from the premises of Blossom’s Spa.
He pleaded guilty to a second charge of sexual assault related to a February 2017 incident at the clinic, In which he convinced a woman who had booked an upper body massage to receive a full-body massage. She said she agreed to her feet and legs at his insistence but that Bhatt moved his hands up her inner thigh and made contact with her private area more than once.
The original charge for the 2018 incident came after a woman said he and spent between seven to 12 minutes massaging her breasts telling her he was looking for cancer.
The provincial court judge in the case wrote that he used his credentials to manipulate the women for his own sexual gratification, Judge Karim Zaher Jivraj also stated,
“To add insult to injury, the accused was remunerated for his services.”
The judge also mentioned in the decision, that consideration of his sentence should factor in his added risk of contracting COVID-19 if incarcerated due to his age and various underlying health conditions.
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Upendra Bhatt, 63 was convicted last February of sexually assaulting two female clients on separate occasions at his Airdrie clinic after pleading guilty to the assaults which occurred in 2017 and 2018, at the time he was the co-owner of Blossom’s Massage and Spa.
A judge has found an Airdrie massage therapist guilty of sexual assault.
In a written decision this week he was given a conditional sentence of two years less a day which will be followed by12 months of probation.
Bhatt will now be expected to remain at home 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the first year of his sentence. Once the first year is completed he will be on a strict curfew for a subsequent eight months and as part of the conditions of his sentence, he is also no longer a licensed massage therapist and despite his wife still running the business, is banned from the premises of Blossom’s Spa.
He pleaded guilty to a second charge of sexual assault related to a February 2017 incident at the clinic, In which he convinced a woman who had booked an upper body massage to receive a full-body massage. She said she agreed to her feet and legs at his insistence but that Bhatt moved his hands up her inner thigh and made contact with her private area more than once.
The original charge for the 2018 incident came after a woman said he and spent between seven to 12 minutes massaging her breasts telling her he was looking for cancer.
The provincial court judge in the case wrote that he used his credentials to manipulate the women for his own sexual gratification, Judge Karim Zaher Jivraj also stated,
“To add insult to injury, the accused was remunerated for his services.”
The judge also mentioned in the decision, that consideration of his sentence should factor in his added risk of contracting COVID-19 if incarcerated due to his age and various underlying health conditions.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to [email protected]