‘Do you like to party?’: Masseur allegedly sexually assaulted young client

A Brisbane masseur allegedly inappropriately touched a young woman during a massage, asking her about her life and bragging about his six pack, a court has heard.

A masseur is accused of asking a client if she “liked to party”, whether she “had a boyfriend”, and telling her he had been “working out and developed a six pack”, before allegedly sexually assaulting her on the massage table, a court has heard.

James Worra Bake, owner of the Enlighten Massage parlour in Stafford Heights, pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault at the start of his three-day Brisbane District Court trial on Monday.

The alleged offence occurred at his massage parlour in Brisbane’s north in June 2020, with the alleged victim a woman in her early 20s who Mr Bake had massaged once before in March 2020 without issue.

Crown prosecutor Clare O’Connor said the allegations stemmed from the second massage, when the alleged victim was in her underwear with a towel covering part of her body.

James Worra Bake walking into the Supreme Court.

Ms O’Connor told the court that the victim had indicated soreness in her back and neck, and when Mr Bake moved the towel to massage her back, he brushed her breasts several times.

“He then began to ask [the victim] questions about herself – what did she do for work? Did she like to party? Did she have a boyfriend? What did she like doing during the week?” Ms O’Connor told the jury during her opening address.

“He mentioned to her that he had been working out a lot lately and he had developed a six pack.

“When he was massaging her upper thigh in a sweeping motion, he massaged up her thigh and then brushed his thumb over her vagina on the outside of her underwear, and he did that three times.

“He then did the same thing on the other leg, touching her vagina three times with his thumb as he swept in an upwards motion up her thigh.”

Ms O’Connor said Mr Bake is then accused of moving the towel up to expose the complainant’s buttocks and he moved her underwear to expose her buttock cheeks.

“He then started massaging her bottom and placed one hand on her outside thigh, one hand on the inside of her thigh, and in that position with the inside hand he was touching her vagina with his finger,” she said.

“That made her feel uncomfortable and it happened without her consent.”

The Crown further alleges Mr Bake told the woman that it would be better for the massage if she removed her underwear, to which she replied: “No, thank you.”

The court heard once the appointment was over, the complainant paid and went home to her mother. She went to police with her mother and gave a statement in February 2021.

The alleged victim gave evidence on Monday in a closed court. Her mother also testified, along with the police officer who took the complainant’s statement.

Barrister Malcolm Harrison, representing Mr Bake, emphasised to the jury in his opening address on Monday afternoon that they must scrutinise whether the alleged inappropriate touching did occur, and that it was done without the victim’s consent.

“You also have to be satisfied that there were four deliberate touchings of the vagina with either the finger or the thumb through the pants,” Mr Harrison said.

Mr Harrison also raised concerns about the time between the alleged incident in June 2020, and the complainant not approaching police until January 2021.

“I’m suggesting to you that she was confused about what had actually happened that day, when she went home to her mum, she didn’t tell her mum about the touching,” he said.

“I would suggest to you that you would be left in some uncertainty as to whether or not these touchings actually happened as described by [the complainant].

“If you think, for whatever reason, that it could have possibly happened in another way or you think [the complainant] is simply unreliable on that point, then you would not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt and you would acquit.”

The trial continues.