Brick Massage Therapist Accused Of Sex Assault Of Client: OCPO

BRICK, NJ — A massage therapist at Hand & Stone Massage & Facial Spa in Brick has been charged with sexual assaulting a female customer during a massage last week, the Ocean County prosecutor's office announced.

Jonathan Higgins, 28, of Toms River, was arrested Thursday in connection with the incident, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. He is accused of "an act of penetration" on the customer during a massage on Tuesday, June 25.

Higgins has worked at the Brick location since March 2017 and was removed from the schedule when the spa was notified of his arrest, said Jack Bachinsky, vice president of marketing and advertising for the company. The spa is cooperating fully with the police on the investigation, he said.

"Before his arrest on June 27th, the spa was unaware of any incident involving Mr. Higgins," Bachinsky said in an emailed statement. He said Higgins passed a background check completed by the local spa and was also given and completed specific Code of Ethics training.

Higgins was licensed by the state, which also performed a background check as a requirement for massage licensing, and his license was current at the time he was hired, the statement said.

"Hand & Stone provides a safe, clean and luxurious environment for our customers to enjoy massage and facial services nationwide," the statement said. "Our Code of Ethics training is considered to be industry leading and we maintain a zero tolerance policy in our system for any inappropriate conduct by our professional staff and will continue to fully cooperate with authorities and ensure our strict hiring standards continue to be met."

Billhimer urged anyone with information or who feels they may be a victim to contact Detective Nicole Testa of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-929-2027 or Detective Timothy McCarthy of the Brick Township Police at 732-262-1100.

Higgins was being held at the Ocean County Jail as of Monday awaiting a detention hearing.

Note: This report has been updated with a statement from Hand & Stone officials.

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