On June 25, 2024, massage therapist Jorge Cardenio Destrades Llanes from Massage Envy's Mary Brickell Village location in Miami was arrested and charged with sexual battery following a complaint made by a 28-year-old female client. Destrades Llanes, age 53, faces criminal charges of second-degree sexual battery without serious injury and is being held on a $7,500 bond. Destrades Llanes was newly licensed, having only been a licensed massage therapist in Florida since March 2024. There is no civil lawsuit filed at this time.
According to media reports, Jorge Cardenio Destrades Llanes digitally penetrated a 28-year-old woman while massaging her thigh during a full-body massage at the Massage Envy Miami Brickell location located at 900 South Miami Avenue. The alleged victim reported to the Miami Police Department that after the abuse, Llanes tried to pay her off with a two hundred dollars via Zelle if she didn't tell anyone. She declined his cash offer. The police found her name stored in his phone. Both parties were interviewed that day, and Llanes admitted to possibly touching the victim's vagina unintentionally during the massage. Llanes was subsequently arrested shortly thereafter. He was taken into custody and held on a $7,500 bond.
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 can be subject to abuse by their massage therapists. Due to the potential for abuse that is inherent under those circumstances, massage therapists must possess good judgment and good moral character to practice massage therapy safely.
Horowitz Law has filed numerous sexual assault lawsuits against massage therapists on behalf of clients who were inappropriately touched at Massage Envy franchises 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 for massage clients at adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com for a free consultation.