On October 21, 2024, the Florida Board of Massage Therapy permanently revoked the massage therapy license of Salim Baghdadi after finding by clear and convicting evidence that he engaged in sexual misconduct during a massage appointment with his male client. The incident occurred during a couples' massage at Away Spa inside the W Hotel in South Beach. Baghdadi was also ordered to pay a $2500 fine to the Board of Massage Therapy and assessed costs of over $30,000, which he must pay within 90 days. After hearing testimony from relevant witnesses, including the victim and Baghdadi, The Board of Massage Therapy concluded that there was substantial, competent evidence to conclude that Baghdadi engaged in sexual misconduct during the therapy session with his client. Salim Baghdadi has been a licensed massage therapist since July 2020.
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) previously ordered the Emergency Restriction of Salim Baghdadi's massage therapy license, prohibiting his practice of massage therapy on male clients. According to the Final Order, on November 15, 2021, Baghdadi performed a massage on a 39-year-old male client at Away Spa, located inside the W Hotel in South Beach. During the massage, Baghdadi placed his hands underneath the draping and made skin-to-skin contact while massaging the client's inner thigh. Baghdadi then repeatedly grazed the client's testicles with the side of his hand and/or his wrist. He then asked the client to flip over to lie face-up. While at the head of the table, Baghdadi repeatedly stretched his arms from the client's shoulders until his hands reached his genital area. Baghdadi proceeded to rub his hands against the client's testicles and grabbed his penis. He repeated this while standing at the foot of the table. The client pushed Baghdadi's hand away approximately four times, to which his response was that it was his "trouble area," and resumed the inappropriate contact according to the Order. Toward the end of the massage, the client said he noticed that Baghdadi reached his hand under the draping again to touch his penis and began masturbating. The client began to squirm away, causing friction burns that needed medical attention. The client reported the incident to staff members at the spa and hotel, as well as law enforcement. Baghdadi's co-worker, who was in the room performing a massage on the victim's spouse, said that Baghdadi "spent an abnormal amount of time massaging" in the client's pelvic region.
Baghdadi's violation of the massage therapist-patient relationship indicates that he may lack the good moral character and judgment necessary to practice massage therapy. According to the Department of Health, Baghdadi willfully abused his position as a massage therapist by inappropriately touching and sexually violating men who trusted him to act professionally and within the boundaries of generally accepted massage therapy and treatment.
The revocation order ensures that Baghdadi cannot pose a danger to the public's health, welfare, and safety in the vulnerable setting of a massage. When clients book a massage, it is to decompress from the stresses of life. They trust that the massage therapists employed at a 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.
Horowitz Law is legal counsel for the victim in this case and has filed numerous sexual misconduct claims against massage therapists on behalf of clients who were sexually assaulted at massage businesses, 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.