Massage therapist Jason Paul Hagon continued to indecently assault female clients despite police warning, court hears - ABC News

[Eva Blandis]

Massage therapist Jason Paul Hagon continued to indecently assault female clients despite police warning, court hears​

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  By Eva Blandis
  
  
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  Topic:Courts and Trials
  

6h ago6 hours agoTue 29 Oct 2024 at 6:13am

Massage therapist Jason Paul Hagon was sentenced on Tuesday for indecent assault. (ABC News: Meagan Dillon)

In short:​

An Adelaide massage therapist has been jailed for six years for indecently assaulting nine female clients.

Jason Paul Hagon, 54, was sentenced in South Australia's District Court after pleading guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault.

What's next:​

Hagon will be eligible to apply for parole in 2029.




A massage therapist who indecently assaulted nine of his female clients continued to offend despite receiving a warning from police, a court has heard.

Jason Paul Hagon, 54, was sentenced in the South Australian District Court on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to 11 counts of indecent assault in June.

He was originally accused of 25 charges including seven counts of rape, but those charges were dropped in satisfaction of his guilty pleas.

In sentencing, Judge Joanne Tracey said the masseuse, who operated his massage business out of his Morphett Vale home, continued to offend despite police warning him after the first of nine clients made a complaint.

“Your offending was sexually motivated, not isolated and continued for a lengthy period,” Judge Tracey said.


“Your offending was brazen, opportunistic and deliberate, committed against women in vulnerable circumstances while they were in your home.

“You breached the trust they had placed in you as a professional.

"I consider the circumstances of your offending to be very serious.”

Judge Tracey said Hagon tried to justify his offending — which spanned over two years from June 2019 to November 2021 — because of a lack of "sexual satisfaction".

“You pathetically sought to justify your offending because of your lack of sexual fulfilment,” she said.

Judge Joanne Tracey described Hagon's offending as "brazen, opportunistic and deliberate". (ABC News: Che Chorley)


She said the impact of Hagon’s results on his victims is “profound” and “multi-faceted”.

“The [victim impact] statement of each complainant is filled with raw emotion, and each has set out plainly the impact your offending has caused which could leave no one with any misunderstanding as to the extent of the damage and the ongoing affect your offending has had upon them,” she said.

“Your strategy, it seems, was to cajole these women into feeling safe with you by talking with them and encouraging them to feel relaxed with you.

"You chose to interpret their silence as acquiescence, clearly with respect to some complainants you were relying on their naivety and you met complaints with humour."

Judge Tracey said Hagon’s counsel had submitted the masseuse was aware his behaviour was "completely out of place in modern society”.


“Mr Hagon your behaviour in such circumstances has never been acceptable in modern society or otherwise,” she said.

"In [the forensic psychologist's] opinion, your verbalisation of shame, guilt and embarrassment, since being arrested and charged, appeared to largely be driven by the consequences the legal proceedings have had on your life and reputation, rather than meaningful appreciation of the extent of the emotional and physical harm that your actions have had on the complainants."

Victims band together​

Outside court, Hagon’s victims said they were relieved about the sentence, but would continue to “have to live with it for the rest of our lives”.

“I think happy is not the right word, but just a sense of relief that he can’t do this to anyone else while he’s behind bars,” Cassandra Croston said.

Victims Cassandra Croston (left), Sarah Eccles-Smith (middle) and Sally Lumsden (right) spoke outside court. (ABC News: Eva Blandis)


Sally Lumsden said the women had found comfort as they supported each other through the court process together.

“It takes quite a toll. I'm glad I've done it with such a brilliant group of women, I think it would be very hard to do on your own,” she said.

Sarah Eccles-Smith said it was "incredibly important for us to have each other and for other women to see that you might not be the only victim".


“We couldn't have done it without each other,” she said.

The group of women wore matching earrings when they attended court. (ABC News: Eva Blandis)


Judge Tracey said she had considered factors including Hagon’s personal circumstances, the impact of his offending on the victims and general deterrence for the community.

“There is also considerable importance here in ensuring those who provide such therapeutic services fully appreciate that behaviours such as yours represents an egregious breach of trust,” she said.

“As you have acknowledged, over time you grew bolder and more arrogant.

“As a person in whom your client’s would place their trust, you have damaged these complainants’ sense of self-worth and the confidence they can have in their own judgements.”

Judge Tracey jailed Hagon for six years and set a non-parole period of four years, nine months and 19 days.

He will be eligible to apply for parole in 2029.

Posted 6h ago6 hours agoTue 29 Oct 2024 at 6:13am

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