Rogers Massage Therapist Arrested For Sexually Assaulting Client - KNWA

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ROGERS, AR--According to an arrest warrant from the Rogers Police Department, a woman was sexually assaulted by a massage therapist during a January appoint at Massage Envy in Rogers.
The report states that during the massage, Debbie Miranda's therapist, Christopher James Hughes "Doc," put his genitals into Miranda's hand and told her to relax. Miranda says she heard the man putting his pants back on.

In an ongoing investigation by the Roger's Police Department, there were four more sexual assault claims made against Hughes. Officers arrested Hughes on February 11th.

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"I think that's the most frustrating part for me is to know that there were other victims and it should have never made it to the point where it happened to me," said Debbie Miranda, Former Massage Envy Client.

Miranda was a client at Massage Envy Spa for two years until she claims she was sexually assaulted by Christopher Hughes. According to the police report, during a massage in January, Miranda says Hughes exposed his genitals and rubbed them across her hand as he whispered 'relax'.

Miranda said, "a lot starts flashing through your mind about: 'Why me?' and "What did I do?"

Miranda reported the assault to police 4 days later.

Debbie said "I started thinking about it more and more. And that I was not going to be a victim"

Detectives began contacting clients and employees of Massage Envy and uncovered 4 sexual assault claims against Hughes. The franchise owner, Mike Harris, was aware of two of those claims. According to the police report, Harris told officers the claims were investigated internally but found to be unsubstantiated.

Officer Keith Foster with the Rogers PD said "when you have two or three other people that are saying yeah, this exact same thing happened to me, then that starts leading credibility to your statement, and then that goes and plays into the entire charging decision"

A representative with the Massage Envy corporate office says they have a 'zero tolerance policy and that any allegation of inappropriate conduct be thoroughly investigated by the franchisee and properly handled' They then said, 'we are currently investigating whether the franchisee at issue in this matter complied with our policies.'

Miranda says "I hope that Massage Envy will stand up and realize that their policies and procedures need to definitely be looked at."

This story was originally reported by Tevin Wooten. You can follow this report and more at Tevin's Twitter or Facebook page.