On March 15, 2025, massage therapist DeQuan Cedeno was arrested and charged with second-degree sexual assault and third-degree sexual contact with a client in Bergen County, New Jersey. Cedeno, 35, of Teaneck, was brought to a county jail in Hackensack following a complaint made by a female to the Allendale Police Department. The police department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Unit initiated an investigation, which led to Cedeno’s arrest. Cedeno has been a licensed massage therapist in New Jersey since 2022.
According to media reports, the woman claims that Cedeno performed a massage on her at Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa in Allendale, NJ. She alleges that Cedeno touched her inappropriately and digitally penetrated her while giving the massage. Hand & Stone management declined to comment.
During their investigation, Allendale detectives determined that Dequan Cedeno also committed criminal sexual contact on another adult female customer while performing a massage on February 19, 2025, at the same Hand & Stone spa in Allendale, NJ. Media reports state that Cedeno groped the victim, touched the victim’s genitals and used her feet to masturbate himself. On Monday, April 7, 2025, Cedeno was arrested and additionally charged with three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact. Cedeno was held in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack, NJ, for these new charges.
According to public records, Cedeno was employed as a massage therapist at Massage Envy in River Edge, NJ before he worked at Hand & Stone. Cedeno also previously worked at Boxing Trainer.
This is just one of the many disturbing trends of alleged sexual misconduct by massage therapists. Massage therapists occupy positions of trust, and all sexual activity between the massage therapist and clients is strictly prohibited. Cedeno allegedly 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.
Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa is a national massage franchisor built around an "affordable luxury" membership model. Current reporting shows over 600 locations and continued nationwide expansion.
Horowitz Law has filed numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists for clients who were sexually assaulted during massages at Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, salons, 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 get in touch with our law firm at 888-283-9922 or email sexual abuse lawyer Adam Horowitz at adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com for a free consultation.