By Shae McDonald
A Thai masseur has been jailed for sexually assaulting 16 vulnerable female customers at a Brisbane clinic and will be deported once his time is served.
Pongsakorn Mekingrailas was working at Authentic Thai Massage in Stafford when he preyed on the women over an 18-month period from July 2016 to January 2018.
The judge said the masseur had abused the trust of his customers, who were in a particularly vulnerable position because they were part-naked.Credit: File image
The 34-year-old appeared in the Brisbane District Court on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to 18 counts of sexual assault.
The court heard he touched 10 women's vaginas, sometimes on top of their underwear and at other times underneath.
He massaged one woman's nipples and cupped another's breasts.
Judge Vicki Loury QC also described how Mekingrailas moved the women's legs during the massage to expose their genitals.
Judge Loury said he had abused the trust of his customers, who were in a particularly vulnerable position because they were part-naked.
"You violated them in an appalling way," she said.
She said the offending was serious because of the "sheer number" of women he assaulted and the "protracted" nature of some of the incidents.