Inappropriate massage leads to arrest

WEST GOSHEN » A Lancaster County man who worked as a massage therapist at a township spa has been charged with molesting one of his regular clients during a session last week, according to law enforcement authorities.

James R. Deiter, who officials said had worked at the Massage Envy spa on West Chester Pike for about one year, was arrested on Saturday and charged with felony aggravated indecent assault and indecent assault. A resident of Hollywood in Martic Township in southern Lancaster County, Deiter, 63, was held on $25,000 and taken to Chester County Prison.

The woman who reported the alleged molestation told a West Goshen investigator that after Deiter fondled her while she was lying on a massage table during her 90-minute session, he ended the massage by asking her, “How does your 55-year-old body feel now?”

The woman’s name is being withheld by the Daily Local News because of the nature of the alleged crime.

According to court documents, Deiter admitted to the assault, and told police it was not the first time that it had happened with a female client. He said he had been suspended by Massage Envy supervisors for one week when a female customer had accused him of fondling her, but that he was allowed to return to work when the woman did not follow up on her complaint.

The announcement Wednes- day of Deiter’s arrest came from the West Goshen Police and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. In a statement, First Assistant District Attorney Michael Noone said that Deiter, “took advantage of a victim in a very vulnerable position.” Deiter “groomed” the woman by providing massage therapy a number of times before eventually sexually assaulting her, the prosecutor said.

“He waited until he had earned her trust over a number of ap-

pointments before assaulting her,” Noone said.

Noone said Deiter was fired from his position at Massage Envy as soon as these criminal allegations arose. The defendant had also provided massage therapy at Pathways to Healing in Lancaster County, according to the release.

A woman at Massage Envy who identified herself on the telephone as Nichole and said she was the manager of the West Goshen location, said that the business, which is a franchise of a national massage and spa chain, “is a company of the highest integrity.”

“We are committed to providing a safe professional therapeutic environment for our members, guests and employees,” she said, reading from a prepared statement. “We take all our customers’ complaints seriously, and have a zero tolerance policy on inappropriate conduct.”

The manager referred all specific questions concerning Deiter to the company’s corporate offices in Scottsdale, Ariz. A spokesman there, Karen Sung, declined comment until she could review the matter.

Deiter’s attorney, Peter Kratsa of MacElree Harvey West Chester, said he was looking into the allegations against his client and preparing for a preliminary hearing. “To the extent that it is procedurally practicable to do so, we will maintain a cooperative posture with the Commonwealth,” Kratsa said, declining further comment.

The allegations from the criminal complaint are as follows:

On Saturday, West Goshen Officer Jose Torres was contacted by the woman about a sexual assault she said had occurred that day at Massage Envy. She agreed to come to the police station and speak with Sgt. Michael Carroll and to have her interview recorded.

The woman said she had seen Deiter for a massage once a month since September of 2014. The victim stated that the first six sessions were normal and she had recommended Deiter, who she knew as “Jim,” to her friends.

During the massage on Saturday, she said Deiter began touching her inappropriately, where before she had never felt uncomfortable. She told Carroll he touched her bare chest, pushed his erect penis against the victim’s hand, and penetrated the victim’s vagina with his finger. The defendant did all of this without her consent, and while she was naked in a massage room alone with him, according to the press release.

In Carroll’s criminal complaint, he states that Torres went to the Massage Envy location and spoke to Deiter. The therapist agreed to go to the station to address the complaints against him, and was interviewed by Carroll after being informed of his Miranda rights.

During the interview Deiter admitted “that he went too far and that it was not intentional,” Carroll wrote, acknowledging much of the conduct described by the woman. “Deiter also admitted that this has occurred with other women and he provided the names of four other women with whom similar situations have occurred at the West Goshen Office of Massage Envy,” the investigator said.

In the complaint, Deiter is said to have told Carroll about another woman who he said had filed a complaint with Massage Envy about him sexually fondling her, but that he did not remember doing so. He stated that he was suspended for one week from Massage Envy when that occurred but when the girl refused to come in and give them a statement he was allowed to come back to work.

The case remains under investigation.

“Based on the experience of law enforcement, there maybe other victims out there,” said Noone in the statement. “We are asking anybody with information to contact the police immediately.”

West Goshen Police can be reached at 610-696-7400.

James R. Deiter