Berwick masseur Michael Sergides jailed for raping and sexually assaulting female client
A filthy Berwick masseur who raped a “vulnerable” female client at his home left his victim feeling “utterly destroyed”.
South East
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A Berwick masseur who raped and sexually assaulted a female client during a massage which occurred at his home has been jailed.
Michael Sergides, 75, was sentenced in the County Court on Tuesday to a minimum three years and six months’ jail after he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault.
Sergides suggested to his victim it was easier to massage her if she removed her pants.
The fiend then “massaged” around the woman’s vagina before raping her.
The victim said she felt “frozen and helpless” while Sergides violated her.
Sergides also touched his victim’s breasts and nipples then asked the woman if she wanted her “p***y massaged”.
“I always ask,” Sergides said.
The victim, who handed Sergides $60 then left immediately, told a friend what occurred before the offending was reported to police.
Evidence shown to the court during the judge-alone trial included a police interview conducted between an investigator and Sergides which occurred on August 24 2018.
Sergides described to police how he conducted massages.
“Ninety per cent of people want to take their underwear off,” Sergides told police.
“There’s vaginal massage, there’s also anal massage … breast massage is relaxing for a female.”
Sergides told police he operated a mobile massage service but “doesn’t normally allow home visits”.
The court heard Sergides told police he asked the woman if she “preferred to be naked”.
Sergides also told police he warned the woman when he was about to touch her breasts.
“I’m going to do your breasts now,” Sergides said.
The court was told Sergides also asked the woman if she had “panties” on.
“It’s easier to massage down the side of the body if you take them (the panties) off,” Sergides told police.
“I say that to everyone … male or female … I massage the upper part of the vagina but not internally.
“It depends if people are having problems there but I don’t offer it as a general course of being massaged.”
In her victim impact statement, the woman said she was scared to leave her home in case she encountered her assailant.
“He took more than a piece of me … I was hurt and angry for a long time,” she said.
“I felt like a prisoner in my own mind, utterly destroyed by him … I have taken my life back.”
Sergides, who attained his certificate of practice in 2015, has four children including a blind son.
It was submitted Sergides, a former gymnastics teacher, taught at Knox Gymnastics before starting his own business Grips International Gymnastics.
Sergides stopped coaching then worked in real estate just prior to working as a massage therapist.
A Grants Real Estate Narre Warren supervisor gave Sergides a reference for court, describing his former staffer as a “top employee” and “well-liked member of the team”.
Judge Martine Marich said the offending was “grave” but “out of character”.
“It was the opportunistic sexual penetration … of a woman … and who was naked and vulnerable in your presence,” Judge Marich said.
“You took advantage of her vulnerability in an entitled way that has caused deep and enduring trauma to her.
“These are the types of incident that cause concern in women that they are not safe from opportunistic sexual violation.
Sergides, who appeared via videolink from Hopkins Correctional, was jailed for a maximum five years and nine months’ jail.
