On July 1, 2022, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) filed an Emergency Order restricting the massage therapy license of Keonte Mcknight in response to a report of sexual misconduct during a massage he performed while working at Massage Envy in Sarasota. The Order prohibits Mcknight from practicing massage therapy on female clients in the state of Florida. Mcknight just became a licensed massage therapist in Florida in February 2022. Before becoming a massage therapist, Mcknight was a certified nursing assistant in 2017, but for some reason, the license expired in 2019 even though it was issued until 2023.
According to the Department of Health’s Emergency Order, on May 3, 2022, Keonte Mcknight performed a 1-hour massage on a 63-year-old female client at Massage Envy. During the massage, Mcknight rubbed the client’s upper thigh and in the crease between her leg and groin. As he got higher up the leg, the sheet became lifted off of the client’s vagina, leaving it exposed. As he massaged, he touched her clitoris and inserted one finger inside the client’s vagina. The client immediately say up and stated, “that was really personal.” Mcknight then moved back and apologized for “invading her personal space.”
The client then ended the massage, got dressed, and reported the incident to the receptionist. Massage Envy then reported it to law enforcement. This was not Mckinght’s first brush with the law. In 2018, Mcknight was charged with a second-degree felony for possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of marijuana (over 20g), but ultimately the charges were dropped. In 2019, Mcknight was charged for driving with a suspended license, yet again the charges were dropped.
Keonte Mcknight Allegedly Violated the Massage Therapist-Patient Relationship
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. Keonte Mcknight 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. Mcknight’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.