Sanford Massage Envy therapist Paul Mixon voluntarily surrendered his license to practice massage therapy in Florida, which was accepted and adjudged as a discipline on November 4, 2022, by the Board of Massage Therapy. This Final Order was in response to a disciplinary action brought by the Florida Department of Health after a report was made alleging sexual misconduct during a massage Mixon performed while working at Massage Envy in Sanford. This voluntary relinquishment prohibits any further administrative action regarding this case. Mixon has been licensed as a massage therapist in Florida since November 2019.
Mixon’s surrender of license came after the DOH issued an Emergency Order in June 2022 prohibiting Mixon from performing massages on female clients. 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 had happened.
The disciplinary order continues a long and disturbing trend of sexual misconduct by massage therapists statewide. Under Florida law, massage therapists occupy positions of trust, and all sexual activity between the massage therapist and clients is strictly prohibited. Paul Mixon violated the massage therapist-patient relationship. A massage therapist may not use his relationship with a client to induce or attempt to induce the patient to engage or to engage or attempt to engage the patient in sexual activity outside the scope of practice or the scope of generally accepted examination or treatment of the patient.
Horowitz Law has filed numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists on behalf of clients who were sexually assaulted during massages at Massage Envy and other spas and resorts. 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 at [email protected] for a free consultation.