Masseuse sexual assault victim gives powerful speech to her remorseless attacker

A Brisbane masseuse has sniggered in court after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting two of his clients, with a judge reprimanding him for his false claims about the women during the trial.

Brisbane masseuse boss James Warra Bake smirked and shook his head after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two of his massage clients on separate occasions in late 2020.

The owner of the Enlighten Massage parlour in Stafford Heights was on trial this week at the Brisbane District Court, after pleading not guilty to the digital rape and sexual assault of one woman and sexual assault of another.

On November 17, 2020 and again on December 4, 2020, Mr Bake sexually assaulted each woman, placing his hands beneath and on top of their underwear as they laid face down on his massage table, before offering the distressed victims free massages.

Both women gave emotional witness statements during the trial, telling the court they had been traumatised by the brazen assaults, with one woman racing to a nearby medical centre to report what had happened to a complete stranger.

The victims were not known to each other.

James Worra Bake sexually assaulted two of his massage clients at his Stafford Heights practice, Enlighten Massage.

During the trial Mr Bake also decided to testify, during which he denied the assaults and outrageously claimed the two women had in fact sexually presented themselves to him.

A jury made up of five women and seven men deliberated for just under three hours, before delivering the guilty verdicts.

Mr Bake was found not guilty of digitally raping one of his victims, and instead found guilty of sexually assaulting both woman.

Before Judge Michael Byrne KC handed down his sentence, one of Mr Bake’s assault victims gave a powerful impact victim statement to the court.

She said her right to feeling safe and to enjoy closeness and the sensation of touch had been taken by Mr Bake and she had suffered emotional, physical, financial, and psychological impacts as a result.

“Your attempt throughout this trial to tarnish my character and lie (under) oath about what occurred … your desperate attempts to suggest you’re a victim was pathetic and healing for me to hear,” she said.

“You cannot escape the truth. You know what happened … and you will live with that truth always.

“You violated my body, but you did not break me or my fighting spirit.”

Owner of Enlighten Massage, James Worra Bake sexually assaulted two of his massage clients at the Stafford Heights business.

As she delivered her statement, Mr Bake again shook his head.

Judge Byrne KC addressed Mr Bake’s noticeable lack of remorse saying it “didn’t help him,” and reprimanded him for his false claims about the women during trial.

“The accusations you’ve made as to their flirtatious and provocative conduct are considered to have been so obviously false as to involve purely an attack gratuitously on them for the sake of the ability to do so,” Judge Byrne KC said.

“There is no remorse in this.”

Mr Bake was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment.

He will not be eligible for parole until April 2, 2024.