On October 22, 2022, Andy Yepez, age 48, was arrested after two victims reported sexual assaults to police on back-to-back days. According to media reports, two female clients on back-to-back days reported to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office that they were touched and sexually assaulted by Andy Yepez while receiving a massage at The Spa Orlando, located on Arthur Street. Both victims told the police that Andy Yepez touched and inserted his fingers into their vaginas and had similar stories.
Andy Yepez is not actually a licensed massage therapist in Florida. As a result, law enforcement officers investigating the sexual misconduct also criminally charged him with Practicing Massage Without a Required License and Forgery. Andy Yepez told law enforcement that his employer was honoring his massage license from Venezuela. When The Spa Orlando was asked for the license, they reportedly produced a license had been forged including a fake license number. Prior to this incident, the Florida Department of Health already had a report concerning Andy Yepez fraudulently holding himself out as a licensed massage therapist. Yepez lives in Davenport, Florida.
The first incident occurred on Thursday, October 20, 2022. The woman claims that she told Yepez to target her neck and shoulders for her massage. The victim says that although Yepez initially began the massage in the area requested, he eventually asked her to roll over to her back so that he could massage her inner thighs. After the client rolled over, Yepez allegedly inserted his fingers into the woman’s vagina several times. The woman says she could “not believe what was happening” and waited until Yepez left before she contacted authorities.
The second incident occurred the next day, on October 21, 2022. The second victim told police that Yepez had touched her vagina “outside of her underwear on several occasions” without her permission. The victim claims that she moved his hand off her each time Yepez touched her inappropriately. After the massage, the woman told the spa owner of the incident and then reported it to law enforcement. During their investigation, authorities determined that Yepez was positively identified and arrested the following day. Yepez was charged with battery and sexual battery on a person over 18.
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 are undressed and can be subject to abuse by their massage therapists. In this instance, we hope law enforcement will look into how and why The Spa Orlando came to employ Andy Yepez as a massage therapist when he did not in fact have a license to practice massage therapy.
Horowitz Law has filed numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists on behalf of clients who were inappropriately touched at 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 email to sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz at [email protected]