Massage therapist gets conditional discharge

An East Hants massage therapist found guilty of assaulting a female client by touching her stomach without her consent has been handed a conditional discharge with a year's probation.

Martin Rene Huybers, 55, of Upper Nine Mile River was working at a spa and wellness centre in Elmsdale when he assaulted the woman in June 2016.

Huybers stood trial in Shubenacadie provincial court on 10 charges of sexual assault involving eight female clients.

Judge Catherine Benton acquitted him in July on all 10 counts of sexual assault but found him guilty of the included offence of common assault in relation to one of the women.

At sentencing Monday, Benton accepted defence lawyer Mark Knox's recommendation for a conditional discharge.

If Huybers successfully completes the probation term, he will not have a criminal conviction for the incident and can apply to work as a registered massage therapist again.

Crown attorney Alicia Kennedy asked for a suspended sentence with probation, saying a discharge would be contrary to the public interest.

Kennedy said the assault was committed in the course of Huybers' employment and the victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, “was in a very vulnerable position.”

“If Mr. Huybers is to return to massage therapy, members of the public should be aware of this conviction,” Kennedy argued.

But the judge said a conditional discharge would clearly be in Huybers' best interest and would not be contrary to the public interest.

She said a discharge would not prevent the public from knowing about Huybers.

“Mr. Huybers has been through a situation where everybody knows in the community — it's such a small community — what the allegations were to begin with,” Benton said, noting that he and his wife were “shamed and berated” in public.

“It was again reported in a small community what he was found guilty of. And it will again no doubt be reported in the paper what type of sentence he receives.

“So, the public will clearly be aware of Mr. Huybers' situation.”

According to the trial decision, the complainant received more than five massages from Huybers. Near the end of the last session, she was lying on her back when Huybers lifted the sheet and twice placed his hand on her stomach in the area of her diaphragm.

She said Huybers had never touched that part of her body in any of the earlier sessions, and she moved her arm up under her breasts to block him in case he tried to go any further.

The client complained to the owner of the wellness centre the next day and Huybers sent her an email apologizing for making her feel

uncomfortable. She went to police two years later.

Huybers testified he was attempting a new treatment when he rubbed the woman's diaphragm, as the previous sessions had not resolved her issues. He acknowledged he did not seek her consent beforehand.

The judge was satisfied that Huybers' sole purpose for touching the woman's stomach was to help resolve her issues.

“There is nothing before, during or after these actions that would suggest a sexual component,” Benton said in acquitting him of sexual assault.

But she said his actions were an intentional application of force without the consent of the other party, meeting the definition of assault.

On Monday, Benton said Huybers has certainly learned that if he is involved in any massage therapy sessions in the future, he must obtain consent before touching each area of a client's body.

While on probation, Huybers must participate in any counselling deemed necessary by his probation officer. The judge also ordered him to have no contact with the victim and stay away from her residence.