Ex-Massage Envy therapist on trial for molesting PBSO deputy - Palm Beach Post

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WEST PALM BEACH — Suffering back pain from the weight of a gun, radio and other items she carries around her waist as a corrections officer, a 32-year-old Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy began going to Massage Envy for relief.

On her third or fourth trip to the national chain’s storefront on Southern Boulevard in Royal Palm Beach, the massage took a disturbing turn, she told a Palm Beach County jury on Wednesday.

Masseur Juan Parra massaged her buttocks, he fondled her breasts and then he touched her genitals, she said.

"I was shocked," said the Belle Glade woman who has worked as a corrections officer for nearly 10 years. The Palm Beach Post is not identifying her because of the nature of the allegations.

Parra, who has been accused by three women of touching them inappropriately, is the second Massage Envy employee in Palm Beach County to be charged with molesting clients.

The Arizona-based company that raked in billions by making massages affordable also faces civil lawsuits here and across the country from dozens of women who claim it failed to protect them from sexual assault.

Attorney Alan Haas, who is representing Parra on a charge of attempted sexual battery, scoffed at the deputy’s claims that she was molested during an April 2018 visit to the massage parlor.

If she was so traumatized, Haas questioned why she looked so calm on video captured by the store’s security cameras. The video shows her drinking water from a cup Parra handed her after the massage, he said. It also shows her putting money into an envelope to tip Parra.

He also quizzed her about why she didn’t immediately tell her sister, who went with her, about the attack and why she didn’t report it to police until the next day.

He further suggested that her claims of being shocked by Parra’s actions were disingenuous. As a jailer, he said, she is regularly the target of unwanted sexual attacks from inmates, such as those who masturbate in front of her.

Testifying in a soft but unwavering voice, the woman explained that she was initially embarrassed by what had happened.

By the next day, she said she realized she had to act. "I thought about it all night," she said. "I couldn’t sleep. It was on my mind all night."

She called the massage parlor to cancel her membership, explaining what had happened. She then went to the sheriff’s office to file a complaint against Parra.

While she hired attorney Adam Horowitz to investigate filing a civil lawsuit against Massage Envy, she said none has been filed. However, Haas said, Horowitz has sent a letter to the company, alerting it of his plans to sue the company on her behalf.

Parra, who faces a maximum 15-year prison sentence and possible deportation if convicted, also faces charges in connection with a similar assault on another customer. A third woman, who claims she was also assaulted by Parra, is to testify before the trial ends this week.

Massage Envy came under attack after BuzzFeed reported in November 2017 that 180 women across the country claimed they had been molested by Massage Envy therapists.

The report spawned lawsuits across the nation, including one in Palm Beach County Circuit Court. In August 2018, 11 women sued the company, claiming they were assaulted by therapists at its stores in West Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and three locations on Florida's Gulf Coast.

While it didn’t respond to previous requests for comment on that lawsuit, the company said it beefed up safety rules and background checks and took other precautions in the wake of the BuzzFeed report.

In May 2016, 49-year-old Raymond L. Smith pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of battery after a 60-year-old woman reported he rubbed her vagina while he was working as a masseur at the Massage Envy store on West Palmetto Park Road. It is unclear from court records what sentence, if any, the Boca man received.

State records show Smith’s license was revoked. Parra’s license expired in August.

jmusgrave@pbpost.com

@pbpcourts