Massage therapist jailed for indecent contact

NORRISTOWN >> An Upper Providence massage therapist who told a female client “he has had women turned on by him” was sent to jail after he admitted to touching three women in an indecent manner during massage therapy sessions.

Steven

Torres, 50, of the 100 block of

Gumbes

Road, was sentenced in Montgomery

County

Court to

9 to 18 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to multiple misdemeanor charges of indecent assault and harassment in connection with incidents that occurred between April and July 2018 while he worked at Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa in Upper Providence.

Judge Wendy G. Rothstein said Torres is prohibited from working as a massage therapist and she ordered him to stay away from Hand & Stone as conditions of the sentence. Rothstein ordered Torres to have no contact with the three victims.

“He admitted that he touched three victims in intimate parts of their bodies without consent when he was acting as a massage therapist,” said county Assistant District Attorney Alexandria MacMaster, explaining the nature of Torres’ admission.

“He admitted that he touched three victims in intimate parts of their bodies without consent when he was acting as a massage therapist.” — County Assistant District Attorney Alexandria MacMaster

“He isolated all three women in a backroom. He was in a position of power where they trusted him to respect their boundaries and ultimately he used that to violate them,” MacMaster added. “He exploited his position. He touched them in places for his own sexual gratification and selfish desires.”

The judge’s sentence included consecutive jail time to represent each of the three victims.

Torres faces sex offender treatment following his release from jail, according to court documents.

Torres also faces a lifetime requirement to report his address to state police in order to comply with Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.

Torres decided to plead guilty to the charges shortly after his jury trial began and after two of the victims testified against him.

Torres, who was represented by defense lawyer George Griffith Jr., also must complete three years’ probation following parole, meaning he’ll be under court supervision for about 4½ years. Torres also must complete 100 hours of community service.

The investigation began in July 2018, when two women reported to Upper Providence police that they were assaulted by Torres as he gave the women massages at the Hand & Stone location in the 1800 block of East Ridge Pike. The assaults occurred in April and July, according to court papers.

Each woman told detectives Torres made them feel uncomfortable as they were in a secluded room and in various stages of undress during the massage sessions. The women told detectives Torres touched intimate areas of their bodies without their permission, according to the criminal complaint.

Torres asked one woman, “Do you stretch before you have sex?” according to the arrest affidavit.

“Steven Torres told (one victim) that he has had women turned on by him and wanted to be touched inappropriately,” Upper Providence Detective Sean Franchini alleged in the arrest affidavit.

During the investigation, one victim agreed to a consensual phone conversation, monitored by detectives, with Torres. As Torres discussed the incident with the victim he texted, “Only you get that special treatment,” according to the criminal complaint.

After news of the two victims’ accounts became public, a third woman reported to township police that she too was touched inappropriately by Torres during an April 11 massage therapy session as she lay on a massage table, according to court papers.

“These women coming forward helped to protect the community,” MacMaster said.