Jury in gym sex assault trial must consider if massage was legitimate treatment

By Tom Tuite

The prosecution in the trial of a fitness coach who denies sexually assaulting a woman during a massage for severe back pain has told the jury it has to decide if what occurred was legitimate therapeutic treatment.

Today, Friday, was the fourth day of the trial at Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court, where Judge Ronan Munro told jurors they will have to resume deliberating on their verdict on Tuesday.

The accused, in his 30s, who is not being named due to reporting restrictions, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault at a gym in the midlands on a date in 2021.

It is the prosecution’ case that the woman attended back pain treatment, but what occurred crossed the boundary and was not in keeping with or normally expected in good therapy.

The woman, in her 20s, told the jury she had gone looking for expert help for her back problem, which she had since her early teens, to get back to playing sports after the Covid-19 lockdown.

Ed O’Mahony, BL, prosecuting, told the jury of nine men and three women today that they had to consider all the evidence and it was up to them whether it was legitimate therapeutic treatment, but the prosecution contended that it crossed the threshold of indecency.

In the closing speech for the defence, James Dwyer, SC, reminded the jurors of the presumption of innocence. He said the me-too culture involving crimes, mainly by men against women, was the sign of a society that had grown up; however, that did not leave justice behind.

Counsel said the complainant attended an appointment with his client and received lengthy treatment, which was painful, and which he acknowledged and said sorry.

Earlier in the trial, the woman had given evidence she had to remove her clothing apart from thongs, and he started making inappropriate comments and touched her breasts, buttocks and vagina.

The complainant alleged he told her, “You’re in some nick” and “You’re in some shape”. She claimed he told her “that her job must be stressful” and asked “if I had ever had a massage with a happy ending,” which she understood to be a sexual massage, or a Thai massage.

She has alleged that as she lay on a treatment bed, he told her, “You’re bold, you’re bold, I would say you’re wild”, and “I’m getting hard working on you”.

The woman alleged the accused told her that he would finish her off in 30 seconds with just his hands. “When I said no, he said, ‘You wouldn’t be saying that if I had my clothes off’,” she alleged.

Her evidence was that she had no control over the situation.

She continued exercising for 20 minutes with another staff member, who thought she seemed okay. The court heard she bought a resistance band and returned to the accused to find out the fee before paying at the office.

Later that day, she received a message from him: “Testosterone went through the roof; I didn’t expect that.” The message contained a monkey emoji, and she took a screenshot, which was tendered to court as an exhibit.

She also spoke to a friend and her sister about it that day.

In his garda interview, the accused told Divisional Protective Service Unit Detective Sergeant Niall Smyth he had completed other courses and obtained qualifications in neuromuscular therapy and as a strengthening and conditioning coach.

Clients were covered with a towel or duvet during treatment sessions, and women may be asked to remove their bras but not their shorts, he stated.

He told Detective Sergeant Smyth that a woman’s breasts were never exposed, and there was never a need to touch them. Ninety per cent of the work was done while the client was face down.

He told the officer that he did not touch her breasts or inside her shorts when he was working on her groin to release pressure.

He said she told him she would be a wild one, and he claimed that when he needed her to turn, she flipped the without the towel and “I said mad thing”.

He told gardaí he thought she was gamy and contended she made a moaning sound when she “cracked her back”, and when it became awkward, he would “shoot it down”.

He said he felt she was getting “the wrong idea” and that as he rubbed her neck, “this is when she crossed the line”. He claimed she made a groan and told him that she loved people grabbing her neck.

He contended that he told her he was trying to be professional and to stop, but she replied, “You are the professional”.

He claimed the complainant had taken down the sheet and that he had told her that she was making his job hard.

“I did not touch her vagina, not in any circumstances, did I touch her like that,” he said. He denied telling her she was wild or bold and said those words came from her, a claim she had rejected when she faced cross-examination.

He said, “You only have to look at her Instagram to see she is wild.”

The woman told jurors that she wanted to be clear that she went for help for scoliosis and nothing else and would not be in court more than three years later for any other reason.

“I’m here to make sure what he did to me is not going to happen to any other woman,” she said, adding, “and the things he is saying I said are completely untrue.”