Massage therapist who sexually assaulted women gets prison

Bremerton, Wash. - A Bremerton, Washington massage therapist who sexually assaulted women has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.

A Kitsap County Superior Court on Monday sentenced Joshua Jenkins after he pleaded guilty to second-degree rape and three counts of indecent liberties, the Kitsap Sun reported.

Bremerton police began investigating Jenkins last June when a woman said Jenkins inappropriately touched her at an appointment at Manette Day Spa, court documents said. The woman told a detective that during the assault she felt frozen and that she wanted to come forward "because she was worried this may not be the first time Jenkins has done this to someone, and she didn’t want anyone else to be hurt by him," investigators wrote.

Jenkins told investigators he initiated "consensual" sexual contact with 20 to 22 clients by making overtures during massages, which is a violation of basic medical ethics. He claimed Monday he did not understand the destructive effect it had on clients.

A woman sexually assaulted by him said she was changed by the betrayal of the trust she had placed in him. The woman wrote in a letter to the Kitsap County Superior Court judge that following the assault, she has attempted suicide, fears leaving her house and even after three years of therapy still struggles.

"I am sorry for the hurt that I have caused," Jenkins said at Monday, adding that he hoped his victims could overcome the betrayal and learn to trust again.

A state Department of Corrections interviewer wrote that Jenkins had been fired from four Kitsap County massage clinics in the past decade after client complaints about his behavior. When Bremerton police first started investigating Jenkins they found he had been investigated before for sexual misconduct with clients, but charges were declined.