Charges have been laid against a Calgary massage therapist after three men came forward to police with allegations of sexual assault.
Police say a man came forward last November and said that he had been sexually assaulted in April during a massage at the Movement Sports Clinic, located in the 100 block of 9 Avenue S.W.
An investigation was launched and two additional victims were identified. Two men told police that they had similar experiences while attending the same clinic in August and September of 2018.
“If somebody is attending one of these locations for a professional massage and then it turns out to be a potentially sexual grouping or sexual touching without consent, I think there is that factor that comes into play where people may need to take time and the majority of victims of sexual violence are women and for men to come forward as well, we do have men that are victims of sexual violence, so I think it’s a personal journey for somebody to make that decision to come to police and to disclose that they’ve been a victim of sexual violence,” said S/Sgt. Bruce Walker CPS Sex Crimes Unit.
Dennis Quebral Baltazar, 44, of Calgary, is now charged with three counts of sexual assault.
Police say the sports clinic is cooperating with the investigation and that they believe Baltazar has worked at a number of other massage clinics in the city.
Baltazar is scheduled to appear in court on the charges on March 21, 2019.
"We ask that anybody who’s been a victim of sexual violence of any type to certainly report it to police and then we’ll gladly investigate,”said Walker.
Police encourage anyone who feels they have been a victim of sexual assault to report it by calling 403-266-1234, or 911 if they are in immediate danger.
