Utah massage school instructor charged with grooming, abusing students - KSL.com

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A licensed massage therapist in Salt Lake City who was also an instructor at a massage school was charged Tuesday with grooming and sexually abusing students. (Sirtravelalot, Shutterstock)​

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SALT LAKE CITY — A licensed massage therapist in Salt Lake City who was also an instructor at a massage school is accused of grooming and sexually abusing students.

Meade Calvin Steadman, 58, of Murray, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with two counts of object rape, a first-degree felony, and three counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.

Four women say Steadman sexually abused them while they were either a student at the Salt Lake County massage therapy school where he was an instructor; or at his private studio, Tranquil Touch, according to charging documents.

Steadman "was training and grooming students to do sexual favors for him under the guise that he was helping them," the charges state. "(He) is a licensed massage therapist and a teacher. (Steadman) took his position of trust to prey upon the victims."

Most of the abuse occurred between 2019 and 2020 with one victim stating she was abused in 2004, according to the charges.

The women told police similar stories of how Steadman would inappropriately touch them during a massage, and would sometimes be nude himself while giving the massage, the charges allege.

Prosecutors have requested that Steadman be held in the Salt Lake County Jail without the possibility of posting bail, pending trial.

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Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021 after many years of reporting for the Deseret News

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