Woodland massage therapist found guilty of sexual assault

A Woodland man has been found guilty by a Yolo County jury of multiple felonies including sexual penetration by fear or duress, sexual penetration of an unconscious person, sexual battery by fraud and sexual battery by restraint after a weeks long jury trial.

On Tuesday, 55-year-old massage therapist Fermin Robles Perez was found guilty on sixteen counts, according to a press release from the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. The jury, who deliberated for approximately six and half days, found Perez not guilty on four counts and were unable to reach verdicts on fifteen other counts.

On July 1, 2020 a woman reported to the Woodland Police Department that she had been sexually assaulted during a massage with Perez. After issuing a press release urging more victims to come forward, eight women came forward with similar stories. The massages occured between 2013 and 2020, taking place at his business and home in Woodland.

All nine women testified before the jury and six of them testified before a Yolo County Grand Jury in April.

“Sexual assault is a traumatic experience and to have to talk about it in a room full of strangers can be very intimidating,” District Attorney Jeff Reisig said in the press release. “These brave women came forward and had the courage to share their stories and, as a result, Mr. Perez was held accountable for taking advantage of his position as a massage therapist.”

Perez is facing up to 16 years in state prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17 in Department 7.