A former massage therapist was convicted on Friday, Oct. 19, of three counts of sexual battery while working as a massage therapist at Massage Envy in Seal Beach, according to the Orange County Superior Court website.
The court dismissed three charges of assault with intent to commit a specified felony after Jason Michael Elliot pleaded guilty to the three sexual batery charges.
Two of the crimes occurred in 2009 and a third apparently occurred in 2010.
Elliot was sentenced to 365 days in jail, three years formal probation, restitution and will be required to take AIDS tests and AIDS prevention education.
Seal Beach officers arrested Elliot at on Thursday, July 7, 2011.
As previously reported, the DA’s Office said Elliot was fired by Massage Envy after learning he was suspected of sexual assaults. He had worked there nine months.
As of July 2011, Elliot was no longer registered as a certified massage therapist through the California Massage Therapy Council.
At the time of Elliot’s arrest, Massage Envy corporate headquarters issued a statement to the media that said, in part, “Massage Envy is a national company with over 900 franchised massage therapy clinics in operation or in the process of opening. Each clinic employs therapists who have graduated from an accredited massage school and who meet all state and local licensing requirements. The clinics conduct criminal background checks on all potential massage therapists, including this therapist, at the time of hiring. …
“In addition, Seal Beach Police Department had conducted their own background check on this therapist prior to licensing.”
Seal Beach Police Sgt. Steve Bowles described the incidents as “a series of inappropriate and unwanted physical contacts” between Elliot and the three women clients.
