Ballarat massage therapist Gary Sheppard sexually assaults female clients

A 60-year-old Ballarat masseur who said his training was “silent on obtaining consent” from clients has avoided jail time over his “unusual” sexual assault conviction.

Gary Sheppard, 60, faced Ballarat County Court over sexual assaults committed in 2020 and 2021.

A former Ballarat massage therapist who sexually assaulted multiple female clients and claims his training was “silent on obtaining consent” has avoided jail.

Gary Sheppard, 60, appeared in Ballarat County Court this week, where it was heard that in 2020 and 2021, he assaulted women who arranged massages at his Canadian clinic called Hands On Massage.

The court heard Sheppard had an “unreasonable” belief in consent in relation to three complainants’ experiences at his business.

He repeatedly asked one woman in a 2020 incident whether he was being too intrusive as he massaged her sternum and breasts.

At one point, she answered, “sort of”, and ended up complaining to police in December that year.

In March 2021, a complainant went to Sheppard’s address and received a massage until he put his hands underneath the towel covering her body and rubbed between her breasts, down to her stomach.

The complainant felt uncomfortable as Sheppard touched her nipples.

He asked the woman if she was relaxed, moving his hands further down her body and touching her genitalia twice.

Gary Sheppard assaulted women who attended his Ballarat massage clinic.

The complainant’s phone alarm went off and she told Sheppard to stop, before she paid him and left.

Later that month, another woman organised a massage that lasted about half an hour before Sheppard touched between her breasts, which were exposed after a towel fell from them.

Sheppard was later arrested and interviewed by police.

He said his massages were not sexual and that his training was “silent on obtaining consent” and on avoiding certain parts of the body, but that he asked his clients whether they were comfortable during their sessions.

“A lot of women actually like it when you massage their breasts,” he said.

In relation to touching the one complainant’s genitalia, he said he did massage her pubic area, but that she “didn’t say she didn’t want it” despite his questions about her comfort and her having enough time to do so.

Sheppard pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault.

In a statement read to the court, one complainant, who lives overseas, said she had to travel “to the other side of the world” twice to give evidence.

She described having trouble sleeping and “relentless” symptoms of PTSD.

The woman said she had a “constant and agonising question of (her) own self worth” and feared telling her family about her experience.

The court heard Sheppard had some degree of reluctance in accepting responsibility as he thought the incidents were consensual.

Judge John Smallwood said the case was “unusual” in that there would have been a “high” chance of Sheppard being acquitted if he had taken the matter to trial.

Nevertheless, he pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault and was sentenced on Thursday to a three-year community correction order with 250 hours of community work.