Judge Denies Request to Detain Sex Abuse Defendant

By D.C. Witness Staff - December 14, 2021
Court | Daily Stories | Suspects | Victims |

A DC Superior Court judge denied a request to detain a defendant accused of sexually abusing a patient.

The 36-year-old defendant is charged with first-degree sex abuse of a patient for allegedly sexually assaulting someone while giving them a massage in 2019. The defendant is a licensed massage therapist at a local massage spa. He was arrested in May 2021 in relation to this incident.

He is currently on pretrial release in this case but the prosecutor said during the Dec. 14 hearing that he has failed to report to the Pretrial Services Agency (PSA) for approximately 69 to 71 percent of the time since his initial charge. A representative from the PSA appeared in the hearing and noted that he was also unable to confirm his address.

“The record is clear, he’s been noncompliant,” Judge Marisa Demeo said.

The prosecutor asked Judge Demeo to hold the defendant at DC Jail. However, defense attorney Howard McEachern said he was able to contact the defendant and requested he remains released on the condition that he begins keeping up with the PSA weekly.

Judge Demeo decided not to hold the defendant because she said he has not attempted to contact the victim and McEachern was able to provide additional phone numbers.

The defendant is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 18 for a preliminary hearing to determine if his case has enough evidence to go to trial.