On September 5, 2024, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) filed an Administrative Complaint against massage therapist Leonel Ruiz. This complaint was in response to a report of sexual misconduct by Ruiz during a massage he performed while working at Massage Envy in Miramar, Florida. Leonel Ruiz was arrested for battery charges on January 19, 2023, due to the assault allegations made. Leonel Ruiz has been a licensed massage therapist in Florida since 2002.
According to the order, on January 16, 2023, a woman received a 90-minute massage from Leonel Ruiz at Massage Envy in Miramar. The client has been treated by Ruiz many times in the past, but this was the first time in a year that client saw Ruiz due to COVID-19. During the massage, Mr. Ruiz allegedly began stroking her buttocks and working his way down. The client reported that Ruiz then rubbed his fingers along her labia and vagina. Ruiz then asked the client to flip onto her back face-up and ran his fingers over her labia underneath her underwear. Ruiz then moved up to her breasts and cupped her entire breast with his hands.
Leonel Ruiz 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 sexually. Clients of massage therapists are in an isolated setting, leaving them vulnerable and subject to abuse by their massage therapists.
Due to the potential for inherent abuse, under those circumstances, massage therapists must possess good judgment and moral character to practice massage therapy safely. Mr. Leonel Ruiz 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. Leonel Ruiz's violation of the massage therapist-patient relationship indicates that he lacks the good moral character and judgment necessary to practice massage therapy on female clients safely. The Department of Health respectfully requests that Leonel Ruiz's license to practice massage therapy be revoked, restricted, or suspended.
Horowitz Law has filed numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists for 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, contact our law firm at 888-283-9922 or send an email to sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz for massage clients at [email protected] for a free consultation.