Jury finds masseur not guilty
A Hamilton masseur has been found not guilty on eleven charges of indecent assault against six of his former clients.
It took a jury less than two hours to clear Keith Ashley Dobson, 53, of the charges, at the Hamilton District Court yesterday.
Dobson had been accused of touching the women’s breast and pubic areas and touching a client with his genitals.
All but one of the incidents were alleged to have taken place at Dobson’s practice in Rototuna between September 2015 and March 2016.
One woman’s complaint sparked a police investigation, and a search of the former military officer’s Rototuna home in March 2016.
Dobson’s lawyer Mark Sturm began his closing statement by saying the case cried out for the jury members to use common sense.
‘‘He (Dobson) is a bit different, he has a few idiosyncrasies,’’ Sturm said.
‘‘A bit different by Kiwi standards, more so than what the women are used to. It could be linked back to his UK upbringing.’’
He emphasised that massage therapy did require Dobson to put his hands on his clients.
Crown prosecutor Geraldine Kelly said the women did not give Dobson permission to touch them in any inappropriate places, like their breast and genital areas.
‘‘The Crown says to you the defendant relies on his role as a massage therapist as a way of getting away with touching and indecently assaulting these women,’’ Kelly said.
‘‘He uses his occupation to get away with what any other person would not get away with,’’ Kelly told the court. But the jury did not see it in the Crown’s favour.
All six women gave evidence at the week-long trial.
In one alleged incident, Dobson is said to have placed his genitals on the arm of a woman he thought was asleep. One woman had repeated massages with Dobson without incident, but during the 18th massage, he allegedly slid his hands between her breasts.
Another woman alleged Dobson unnecessarily touched her breasts and chest area, and ran a ‘‘lazy hand’’ over her genitals.
‘‘I was feeling very vulnerable. I was half-naked . . . in a small room with a man I did not feel I could trust,’’ she said.
Sturm said evidence from the final two complainants was a ‘‘full scale attack, in my submission, on the professionalism of [Dobson]’s practice in general’’.
Being a masseur involves putting hands on clients’ bodies, Sturm told the jury.
‘‘[Dobson] emphatically denies committing those sexual crimes,’’ he said.