Judge reserves decision on alleged sexual assaults by massage therapist

An Ipswich judge has reserved her decision on the five counts of sexual assault alleged to have been committed by a local massage therapist against two of his clients.

A massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting two clients will have his fate decided by a judge in the coming weeks following a two-day trial.

Owner of Raceview practice ‘Body Entire Massage Therapy’ Matthieu Bale, 42, faced Ipswich District Court on Tuesday, March 1 for the first day of his two-day judge-only trial.

He pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault: three of a 19-year-old man and two of a 41-year-old man.

The two men who visited the Ipswich massage therapist appeared in court this week to give evidence about alleged sexual assaults.

The court heard both men were clients of his.

Crown prosecutor barrister Adrian Braithwaite told the court that all of the alleged offending occurred on November 25 and 30, 2020.

He said the primary point of contention in the matter was ‘consent’ rather than whether the incidents occurred.

Mr Braithwaite said the 19-year-old complainant found Bale via Google after searching online for a massage therapist.

The young man visited Bale once, where no offending was alleged to have occurred, and booked a second massage appointment for November 25.

“During the course of the massage, it’s alleged by the complainant that the defendant grabbed his penis with his hand,” Mr Braithwaite said.

“The complainant estimated this occurred about five or six times.

“During the course of that same massage, when the complainant was lying on his stomach, the defendant was massaging the tops of his thighs and repeatedly touched the complainant around the outside of his anus with his finger.”

Mr Braithwaite said it was alleged the massage continued for a while before the 19-year-old rolled back onto his back and Bale “grabbed” his penis again, masturbating it with his hand.

The court heard the young man allegedly told Bale to stop but Bale persisted.

The complainant left, went home, and reported the alleged offending to police that night.

With regard to Bale’s 41-year-old client, Mr Braithwaite said he visited the massage therapist in the hopes he would help him with the muscle spasms he suffered following his recent spinal surgery.

Matthieu Bale, 42, leaving Ipswich District Court on Tuesday March 1, 2022.

Mr Braithwaite said it was alleged Bale asked him to remove his clothes, massaged him for some period of time, and pressed down on his genitalia.

“The massage continued around his upper thigh and groin area,” he said.

“The complainant will tell you … he froze up and was scared and ashamed.

“The defendant then grabbed his penis with his hands and masturbated it until the complainant became erect.”

Once again, it was alleged the client asked Bale to stop but Bale continued to masturbate his penis.

Police attended Bale’s studio at Raceview, a search warrant was executed, and Bale participated in an interview during which he admitted to masturbating his clients’ penises under the belief they had consented.

During the 80-minute police interview, which was played in court on Tuesday, Bale said he did not have the “slightest inkling” his 19-year-old client was uncomfortable with the acts performed throughout the massage.

Bale said that while he knew the behaviour was “unprofessional”, he checked in with his client at least four times to make sure he was “OK”.

It was only after the ‘massage’, when Bale ran into the client in the carpark, that he said the young man insinuated he was not happy with what had transpired.

“He kind of swerved (his car) a little bit, wound his window down, and said ‘dude that’s f----ed’ repeatedly’,” Bale told police during the interview.

“(I said) ‘yep sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable’. He gave no indication until then that he was even the slightest (bit) uncomfortable.”

When police questioned Bale’s suggestion for the 19-year-old to get “fully naked” during the massage, Bale said he had his clients get completely naked about 40 per cent of the time.

He also said that about 70 per cent of his male clients became aroused during their massages with him, which “most therapists” would attest to.

With regard to the 41-year-old client, Bale said he also checked in with him several times throughout the ‘massage’ to make sure he was “OK” and believed he had consent to perform the acts he did.

As the client was packing up to leave, Bale said he told him he did not have to pay for the massage as what had taken place was “not really professional”.

Bale told police during the interview that he had engaged in sexual acts with about six of his clients in five years. He said he had picked up on a “vibe” with both of the complainants.

“So in your mind, just because someone didn’t stay ‘stop’ you took that to understand that you could keep going?” a policeman asked Bale.

“Yeah, absolutely,” Bale responded. “Because I did ask. I said ‘are you OK?’ and I would have thought that if he wasn’t OK he’d say …”

After hearing the evidence presented by both the prosecution and defence, Judge Deborah Richards reserved her decision on whether Matthieu Bale was guilty of the alleged sexual assaults of two of his clients.

No date has been set for the matter to return to court.