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A massage therapist convicted of videoing his clients may face other legal action after a referral by the Health and Disability Commission.
In a report by the deputy health and disability commissioner, Dr Vanessa Caldwell, said the man, referred to as Mr A, breached the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights by filming clients without their consent, and other behaviour which did not meet accepted professional standards.
A complaint was laid with the health and disability commissioner over the standard of the man's work by his employer.
In 2023 the man pleaded guilty to five charges of making an intimate video recording of another person, and one charge of intentionally attempting to make an intimate video recording of another person.
Dr Caldwell said in her view it was in the public interest to also hold Mr A to account for the breaches which were not the subject of the criminal proceedings.
These included failure to give informed consent, providing services - including massage of sensitive areas - without informed consent, and failure to provide services that complied with professional standards with respect to draping practices, communication standards and documentation standards.
She said the man would be referred to the Director of Proceedings to decide if any further proceedings should be taken.
Dr Caldwell's report said five complainants say Mr A failed to communicate his intention to massage sensitive areas, like breasts or inner thighs, failed to provide adequate draping, and implied or suggested they should remove their underwear.
She said his record keeping was also not of an appropriate standard, and he deleted records after being caught making the recordings.
One client said Mr A asked her to remove her underwear, which she said had never happened before.
"Never have I been asked to remove my underwear by any previous massage therapists and when I was unwilling to do this, have your hands go up under my underwear and touch me where we both [know] you shouldn't have."
Dr Caldwell noted that Mr A disputed his consumers' accounts, but that in light of the striking similarities in the concerns raised by each of the complainants, she considered it more likely than not that Mr A massaged each of them in sensitive areas as they described.
Mr A said he informed all his clients prior to the massage that they were in full control, and they should tell him if they did not like something he was doing.
Dr Caldwell she concluded that in each of the complainant's cases there was insufficient discussion about what areas of the body would be massaged, and in particular no explicit mention that this would involve the sensitive areas in which Mr A massaged each of the respective clients.
She said Mr A also took non-consensual videos of clients, and therefore sexually exploited his clients. Dr Caldwell said the videos were an abuse of a position of trust as a therapeutic provider, and more likely than not for the purpose of Mr A's sexual gratification.
Mr A said he would no longer work as massage therapist, and Dr Caldwell said she strongly encouraged him to refrain from doing so.
Mr A holds a diploma in therapeutic massage obtained overseas, and is not a member of Massage New Zealand.
Where to get help:
Victim Support 0800 842 846
Rape Crisis 0800 88 33 00
HELP Call 24/7 (Auckland): 09 623 1700, (Wellington): 04 801 6655 - push 0 at the menu
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) 022 344 0496
