Enlighten Massage owner accused of sexually assaulting clients

A Brisbane business owner has been accused of digitally raping and sexually assaulting two of his clients while they laid on his massage table.

A Brisbane masseuse has been accused of digitally raping and sexually assaulting two of his clients while they laid on his massage table.

James Worra Bake, owner of the Enlighten Massage parlour in Stafford Heights, pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault at the Brisbane District Court on Tuesday.

A jury will on Friday deliberate whether Mr Bake intentionally touched the vaginas of two different women on separate occasions in late 2020, by running his fingers beneath and over their underwear while giving them massages at his business.

The alleged rape occurred on November 17, 2020, when Mr Bake allegedly digitally penetrated one of the women, with the second sexual assault alleged to have occurred on December 4, 2020.

The two women did not know each other.

Crown Prosecutor Adrian Braithwaite told the court that each of the women had asked Mr Bake to stop what he was doing and got up to leave before being offered free massages.

James Worra Bake at the Brisbane District Court. He has been charged with sexual assault and digital rape.

He said both sought help following the alleged assaults, with one woman calling her friend and the other seeking refuge in a nearby medical centre.

Mr Braithwaite put to the jury that during a police interview in December 2020, Mr Bake told officers he “brushed” the women’s genital area during each massage, however, later gave evidence in court saying he was confused with what he had told police.

“It’s highly unconvincing and when faced with the wake of his own words to police, (he) makes up this unbelievable explanation about how it’s somehow explicable by some kind of memory issue,” he said.

During the three-day trial, the jury was presented with recounts of the alleged assault from both women, with Mr Bake also opting to testify.

He denied the charges, telling the court the two women had in fact sexually presented themselves to him and that one of the women had tried to grab his genitalia.

In his closing statement, Mr Braithwaite told the jury Mr Bake back-pedalled when asked why he hadn’t told police of the alleged sexual advances by the women.

“He’s playing the victim card himself,” he said.

“It’s complete and utter nonsense, absolute garbage.”
Mr Braithwaite said it was “highly improbable that just by chance two strangers have fabricated - and to be honest lie under oath - versions which in many respects mirror each other.”

James Worra Bake, owner of Enlighten Massage in Stafford Heights has been accused of sexually assaulting two of his clients while they lay on his massage table.

Contrastingly, Mr Bake’s defence barrister Frank Walsh, argued that the women were unreliable witnesses as they had poorly recalled their alleged assaults and may have been confused as to exactly where Mr Bake was touching them during the massage due to being face down on the table and in the dark.

He said the women were possibly massaged to the point where their senses were “dulled”.

“They could not see what my client was doing,” he said.

“They are placing great reliance on their sense of touch.”

Mr Walsh also told the jury the woman involved in the alleged rape may have not been sure of what had happened to her at the time because she hadn’t reported the alleged assault to police until the following day.

“Things just don’t add up,” he said.

In his closing address, Mr Walsh argued Mr Bake had not intentionally touched the women inappropriately, and urged the jurors to consider if the alleged offending was in fact accidental, noting both women had described his massage technique as “clumsy”.

“Touching must have intention to obtain sexual gratification,” he said.

“It was not done deliberately.”

Crown Prosecutor Adrian Braithwaite said the two women were “massage veterans” and would not mistake someone purposely touching them inappropriately.

He urged the jury to consider that the in-court reactions and account delivery of each woman were consistent with someone who had been violated.
The jury made up of seven men and six women will begin deliberations on Friday, with Mr Bake to remain on bail.

The trial continues before Judge Michael Byrne KC.