Massage Therapist Arrested On Multiple Sexual Abuse Charges: Cops

MISSION VIEJO, CA —Sheriff's deputies arrested a former Massage Envy employee and licensed home health care provider on Wednesday, the Orange County Sheriff's Department reported. Russell Bernardino, 43, was taken into custody at his Mission Viejo home on charges of rape, elder sexual abuse, and other sex crimes, according to the OCSD special victim's detail. Officers booked him into the Orange County Jail, with bail set at $100,000.

Officials suspect Bernardino, a massage therapist for about three years and as a home health care provider for about two years, may have victimized others, a spokesperson for the OCSD said.

In April, detectives opened their investigation when a 36-year-old woman came forward to allege she was sexually assaulted by the suspect while receiving a massage at Massage Envy in Mission Viejo.

In June, a 71-year-old woman alleged that she was also sexually assaulted by Bernardino at the same location, according to sheriff's spokeswoman Jaime Blashaw.

Bernardino is also accused of raping a 77-year-old woman in March 2018 while serving as her caregiver at her home in Laguna Woods, the sheriff's department reported. Detectives say that he has worked at several massage businesses.

He worked for West Coast Care in Orange from 2017-2018 and may have worked for other home health care companies in Orange County, according to investigators. Investigators believe there may be additional victims, leading the department to circulate his photo.

Anyone with information about the case was asked to contact the sheriff's department at 714-647-7419 or submit an anonymous tip to OC Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS or occrimestoppers.org.