On June 16, 2022, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) filed an Emergency Order restricting the massage therapy license of Paul Mixon in response to a report of sexual misconduct during a massage he performed while working at Massage Envy in Sanford, FL. The Order prohibits Mixon from practicing massage therapy on female clients in the State of Florida. Mixon has been licensed as a massage therapist in Florida since November 2019.
According to the Department of Health’s Emergency Order, on May 12, 2022, Paul Mixon was assigned to perform a 2-hour massage on a 43-year-old female client at Massage Envy. Mr. Mixon had previously worked on the client multiple times to release stress in her pectoral muscles. During the last massage, the client laid on her back with her chest covered by a sheet.
Mixon began the massage, rubbed the patient’s jaw, and then moved to her pectorals. Upon completing the pectoral massage, Mr. Mixon pinched her nipples. Mr. Mixon moved to the client’s left side, removed the draping on her left leg, and began to massage the left leg in an upward motion. Mr. Mixon allegedly removed the draping from the client’s vaginal area and used a finger on his left hand to penetrate the client’s vagina.
The client immediately made an audible sound, which startled Mr. Mixon. He then placed his right hand on the client’s neck and squeezed it for her to stop. The client remained silent, closed her eyes, and removed Mixon’s hand from her neck. Mr. Mixon then removed his finger from the patient’s vagina and completed the massage as if nothing happened.
After the massage ended, the victim got dressed and exited the room. On or about May 16, 2022, the victim reported Mr. Mixon’s conduct to the Sanford Police Department. Two days later, the victim reported the vaginal penetration to her doctor and complained that she was experiencing upper vaginal pain since the penetration. The victim was diagnosed with candida vulvovaginitis, a yeast infection, and prescribed medicine for it.
When clients schedule a massage, it is to decompress from the stresses of life. They trust that the massage therapists employed at the spa are carefully vetted and safe to engage with the public. It is unacceptable, immoral, and unlawful for any employee to touch a client in a sexual manner. Clients of massage therapists are placed in isolated, vulnerable settings where they can be subject to abuse by their massage therapists.
Due to the potential for abuse that is inherent under those circumstances, massage therapists must possess good judgment and good moral character in order to safely practice massage therapy. Mr. Paul Mixon willfully abused his position as a massage therapist to sexually violate a woman who trusted him to act professionally and within the boundaries of generally accepted massage therapy and treatment. Mr. Mixon’s violation of the massage therapist-patient relationship indicates that he lacks the good moral character and judgment necessary to safely practice massage therapy.
Horowitz Law has filed numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists on behalf of clients who were inappropriately touched at Massage Envy and various massage salons and spas. If you have been a victim of sexual assault or sexual battery during a massage, or if you know someone who has, please contact our law firm at 888-283-9922 or send an e-mail to sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz for massage clients at [email protected] for a free consultation.