Anatoly Kitayevich fronts court over sexual assault of client
A Melbourne therapist ran a vibrating massage gun on top of a client’s vagina, told her she had a beautiful body and she needed to please herself as it would be good for her thyroid.
South East
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A Melbourne massage therapist with more than 30 years of experience ran a vibrating massage gun on top of a client’s vagina and commented that she had a beautiful body, a court has heard.
Anatoly Kitayevich, 67, of Glen Huntly, fronted the County Court on Wednesday for a plea hearing after pleading guilty in March to one charge of sexual assault.
The court heard that Kitayevich sexually assaulted a 28-year-old in his practice on February 18, 2022 after she booked an appointment for a massage for neck and shoulder pain.
After massaging her shoulder and neck, Kitayevich moved to her hip where he applied acupuncture needles before leaving the room.
When he returned, he removed the noodles and brought a massage implement the woman described as a “vibrating tool”.
He moved the vibrator back and forth between her hip and close to her underwear and the woman thought he may have gotten too close to her vagina.
Kitayevich then moved the vibrator on top of her vagina over her underwear which caused her to jump. He moved it back to her hip but took it back on top of her vagina and kept it there for a short time until she pushed him away.
“The complainant was in shock, she felt confused, violated and was scared. There was no discussion or consent for this sexual encounter,” Prosecutor Stephanie Wallace said.
Ms Wallace said after pushing two acupuncture needles on to her thigh area close to the edge of her vagina, Kitayevich went over to a bookshelf, retrieved a book, and showed it to her.
He said: “Look, this is what I was doing”, showing a book relating to massage and a picture of a vagina. She believed he was trying to justify his actions.
After the massage, he said “You have a beautiful body, a wonderful body”. He then asked her about her boyfriend, her break-up and about sexual communication.
Ms Wallace said Kitayevich then said something along the lines of “Find an older men who know what they are doing, how to pleasure you”. The woman ignored him and as she was leaving, he said “You should please yourself, you need to please yourself because it would be good for your thyroid”.
She told her boyfriend about Kitayevich’s behaviour and police were called.
Defence lawyer David Grace KC submitted that a community corrections order would be the appropriate sentence, saying Kitayevich was ashamed of his actions and came before the court with no priors.
He has treated more than 40,000 patients without any complaints and could not explain why he offended in the manner he did.
The prosecution submitted that a non-custodial sentence was an option. Kitayevich was remanded on bail to be sentenced on May 30. Judge Michael Tinney ordered that Kitayevich be assessed for a community corrections order.
