Advisory: This story contains details about sexual assaults.
A former masseur at a downtown Victoria massage and reflexology studio was found guilty Friday of sexually assaulting five clients.
Ajesh Jacob, who went by Sam while working at Big Feet on Fort Street, faced nine sexual assault charges involving nine women on whom he performed treatments over a nearly two-year period until March 17, 2021. A tenth sexual assault charge was stayed during the trial.
The degree of sexual touching varied, with some women saying Jacob touched their breasts and others saying he touched their vaginal areas or inserted his fingers in their vaginas, Crown prosecutors said during the trial.
Jacob took the stand in his own defence, telling the court he didn’t touch anyone inappropriately during his work and he had no romantic interest in his clients.
He acknowledged adding a client on Facebook after giving her a massage, and sending her a message that went unanswered.
He said he sent another message, with two heart emojis, on Valentine’s Day, but denied any romantic interest and said she was one of many people he messaged on Valentine’s Day.
Justice Catherine Murray said she had concerns about Jacob’s credibility and the reliability of his evidence because it was inconsistent with other evidence and his testimony changed at times. “I find that he says what he thinks will help him,” she said.
However, Murray found Jacob not guilty on four counts because in some cases Jacob’s identity was not proven, and in others she had concerns that some of the women’s evidence was tainted or unconsciously contaminated by social-media posts or news reports they read about other women’s stories.
Many of the women reported an assault to police after reading an Instagram post on the account Survivor Stories that described a sexual assault by a man at Big Feet.
Some had never told anyone about what happened to them, while others texted friends about the incidents and one emailed Big Feet to report her assault. The email was never answered, Murray said.
While Murray had concerns about the social-media posts contaminating the women’s evidence, she accepted that it took seeing other people’s similar stories for some to accept they had been sexually assaulted.
Many of the women testified at trial that they tried to diminish what happened to them instead of immediately accepting they had been sexually assaulted, including one woman who said she didn’t initially believe what Jacob did to her was a crime because he didn’t have sex with her.
Jacob’s lawyer, Jordan Watt, challenged some of the women’s testimony during the trial, arguing the payment of a tip demonstrated their satisfaction with the treatment. Murray rejected that argument, saying she accepted the women’s testimony that they are conditioned to tip.
A date for sentencing has not yet been set.
