SALT LAKE CITY — A Logan massage therapist was charged Wednesday with sexually abusing a client and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Freddy Anthony Perales, 57, was charged Wednesday in 1st District Court with object rape, a first-degree felony, and two counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
On May 29, a woman said she went to a home in Logan to receive “a massage and adjustment from what she believed was a massage therapist/chiropractic,” according to charging documents.
The woman was referred to Perales by a co-worker, and had seen him six to 10 times prior to the alleged assault. She typically went to her appointments with her husband, police say. On the day of the alleged attack she said she went to her appointment alone.
That day, Perales told the woman he was going to give her an “energy massage” and sexually assaulted her during the massage, the charges state.
“The victim felt uncomfortable, and Freddy Perales continued to tell her to relax, and he was a professional,” according to the charging documents.
After the massage, Perales allegedly sent messages on Facebook to the woman and “apologized and said he wasn’t trying to take advantage of the victim. He also begged for forgiveness and told the victim, ‘it was going to destroy his family’s lives,’” the charges state.
The woman later called Perales while police monitored the conversation. “Perales initially apologized for ‘crossing boundaries,’” according to the charges. He called his style a “self-learned technique” and “continued to apologize, asked the victim to put it behind her, and even offered to work with her remotely at no charge.”