A Tucson massage therapist is facing multiple felony charges after police say he sexually abused a client, public records obtained by the Arizona Daily Star show.
Joseph Flory, 24, had his license revoked by the State Board of Massage Therapy last month. Its decision cited four separate incidents from March, May and June 2014.
Flory, who now lives in Phoenix, could not be reached for comment.
Flory has been indicted on two counts of sexual abuse and one count of attempted sexual abuse stemming from a May 2014 incident, according to court records.
While working at Rubs Massage on East Wrightstown Road, Flory allegedly rubbed his crotch against the victim several times during her massage and continually brushed his hand against her underwear, a Tucson Police Department report said.
When police contacted the businessβs manager soon after that incident was reported, she told them that there had been two additional customer complaints of inappropriate touching, the police report shows.
After the first complaint was received, Flory was immediately taken off the schedule, said Rubsβ founder, Shelene Taylor, who owns all six massage parlors in Tucson.
Company policy is that anytime a store receives a customer complaint, the therapist is taken off the schedule while the allegation is reviewed, Taylor said. βWe have to follow through in these situations, because weβre talking about public safety,β she said.
When police met with the manager of the Wrightstown location on June 5, 2014, they learned that Flory been terminated that same day after additional complaints were received. The manager also told him about the criminal investigation, the police report shows.
Taylor alerted the Arizona State Board of Massage Therapy about what had allegedly occurred and recommended that Floryβs license be revoked.
βThis situation is extraordinarily serious to all professionals in this field,β she said. βThings are made very clear in massage therapy school and it astounds me that someone would think they could do that.β
A little more than a month later, police were contacted again by the store manager who said that an another customer had complained to those in charge about inappropriate touching by Flory in July 2013, according to the police report.
βI encourage people βmen or women β who feel theyβve been treated inappropriately to come forward at that moment so we can handle it as quickly as possible,β Taylor said.
Flory was indicted in January, but two weeks ago, the county attorney submitted a document to the court stating that officials intended to seek separate indictments for the additional victims, court documents show.
