Somers Point Massage Therapist Loses License For Sexual Touches

NEWARK, NJ — An Ocean County man has had his license to work as a massage therapist permanently revoked for touching a female client inappropriately, state officials announced Thursday.

John R. Popper, 48, of Little Egg Harbor, has been permanently barred from working as a massage therapist in New Jersey, under a final order filed by the state Board of Massage and Bodywork Therapy, part of the state Division of Consumer Affairs. The license revocation was announced by the state Attorney General's office.

Popper was a massage therapist at Hand and Stone Massage & Spa in Somers Point and engaged in inappropriate and unwanted sexual contact with a female client during a massage session, the attorney general's office said.

Popper was criminally convicted of harassment by offensive touching in Somers Point Municipal Court for placing his hand on a client’s vagina during a massage, state officials said. He originally was charged with criminal sexual contact, but the charge was downgraded to harassment, a disorderly persons offense, and remanded to municipal court, the attorney general's office said.

Popper's license was revoked on July 31, on the grounds that, among other things, he engaged in professional misconduct and committed a crime of moral turpitude.

In the final order filed Aug. 25, the board said Popper’s conduct was "so egregious and morally reprehensible, and so fundamentally at odds with anything that we would expect of a massage therapist that nothing short of permanent revocation would be sufficient to protect the public health, safety and welfare."

Popper is the third massage therapist this year — and the ninth in the last 12 months — to have his license revoked by the board as a result of sexual misconduct in the workplace.

"No client or patient should ever have to fear for their personal safety while interacting with a licensed professional in this state," Grewal said. "By revoking the licenses of massage therapists who prey on their clients, the Board is carrying out its duty to protect the public."

"When you see a massage therapist you put your trust in their hands,” said Paul R. Rodríguez, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. "Therapists who violate that trust can cause real and long-lasting damage to their victims and are a danger to our community. We are pleased that the board, through its actions, is sending a message that this kind of conduct will not be tolerated."