Masseuse takes plea to battery charge

A Santa Clarita masseuse pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge in December, after a client accused him of a sexual assault.

As part of the plea deal, one count of touching a person intimately against their will for sexual arousal against Salvador Gonzalez, 30, of Santa Clarita, was dropped.

He was sentenced to one year of summary probation, community service and sexual compulsive anonymous courses as part of a Dec. 5, 2023, agreement with the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office.

A family member of the victim contacted The Signal after the incident, which happened Dec. 9, 2022.

The victim was referred to Gonzalez after telling friends and family members she was suffering from sciatic nerve pain.

She arranged to meet Gonzalez for a massage in the 31500 block of Castaic Road, inside a store owned by a family member of the woman, according to the alleged victim’s sister.

Believing she had been sexually assaulted, the victim contacted the Sheriff’s Department, which investigated the incident and ultimately arrested Gonzalez later that day, according to Sgt. Joseph Mesa of the Sheriff’s Department’s Special Victims Unit.

Gonzalez turned himself in to Sheriff’s Department officials following the allegation.

In a phone interview with The Signal after his arrest, the suspect denied the allegations and referred comment to his attorney.

Gonzalez is due back in court in September to show the court his proof of completion for his assigned program.