Massage Chain With Kingstowne Spot Faces More Assault Accusations

KINGSTOWNE, VA—A national massage chain previously under fire for two alleged assaults at a Kingstowne location is now facing sexual assault accusations from more than 180 women.

Massage Envy, the largest massage chain in the country with nearly 1,200 locations, was the subject on a bombshell report from from BuzzFeed News on Sunday. BuzzFeed cited court records, police reports and other complaints from women who reported being groped and penetrated by massage therapists at Massage Envy locations across the country.

One of the victims, Susan Ingram, told police her massage therapist inserted his fingers into her vagina, groped her, and rubbed himself against her in West Chester, Pa. The next year, the therapist pleaded guilty to molesting nine women at Massage Envy.

The report also mentions a Richmond, Va. incident in which Danielle Dick alleges a massage therapist put his fingers into her vagina and told her it was "our little secret." While he was convicted of a felony sexual assault and admitted to everything that happened, he maintained through the end that he did it "for my pleasure," she wrote on Medium. She has filed a lawsuit and started a Change.org petition that has nearly 55,000 signatures so far.

And some of the most recent accusations come against a massage therapist at at 4926 Wisconsin Ave. NWin DC. Tara Woodley's lawsuit alleges on Sept. 17, a massage therapist put his tongue on her vagina and started to lick her. Months earlier, another woman reported the same therapist in Bowie, Md. and was told he was transferred to a DC location. Another victim alleged an assault at the DC location, but the therapist stayed there up to Woodley's Sept. 17 appointment.

Habtamu Gebreslassie, 24, of Silver Spring, Md. is charged with first-degree sexual abuse for allegedly performing oral sex on the clients against their will. He was later fired and is scheduled to go to trial in January. A D.C. Superior Court Judge denied bond last month for Gebreslassie, saying "there are no conditions that would prevent future dangerousness," WTOP reports.

The woman who filed the lawsuit is going to come forward publicly Monday and release a statement about the lawsuit. Patch will be there to cover the event.

The accusers join two women that accused a massage therapist formerly employed at Massage Envy in Kingstowne. Fairfax County Police had arrested and charged the massage therapist employed at 6465 Old Beulah Street after a woman reported him inappropriately touching her in May 2016. The next month, another woman reported a similar incident from December 2015. Police arrested Nicholas Currie, 24 of the Alexandria area and faces multiple sexual battery charges.

Read the full BuzzFeed report here.

Photo Credit: Amy Sussman/Invision for Massage Envy/AP Images