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Fircrest massage therapist charged with groping, kissing clients

By Amy Clancy
By Amy Clancy

FIRCREST, Wash. — Licensed massage therapist Eric Keith Young is behind bars at the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma, charged with two counts of indecent liberties.

According to investigators, the 41-year old Young sexually assaulted at least two women while working at Spa Vita Bella on Regents Boulevard in Fircrest.

Documents filed in Pierce County Superior Court detail how one client “felt the defendant’s lips on her buttocks” five minutes into her massage March 9.

Another client told investigators Young lifted her bra and “kissed…her right breast.”

We are looking into the possibility that there are more victims,” Detective Ed Troyer told KIRO 7 on Tuesday. “He does have a past that we are still researching.”

That past allegedly includes two separate sex crime reports in Lakewood in the 1990s, according to Troyer, who’s also concerned because Young has “worked at multiple locations, so we definitely want to hear from anybody if they feel they were a victim.”

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Spa Vita Bella declined to comment on-camera today, but an employee told KIRO 7 that Young had worked there for only one month and was fired as soon as the allegations came to light.

Spa Vita Bella Management sent the following email to KIRO 7 in response to the incident, "We are very sorry that guests were shaken and outraged by how they were treated by a staff member. There is nothing more important to us than the comfort and safety of our guests. When our guests complained, we immediately reached out to them, apologized and gathered information. We then terminated the staff member’s employment. We are working with the police who are still investigating to fully understand the situation. We will take any steps necessary to assure our guests stay safe. This has never happened before and we are determined that it will never happen again."

Young was arrested over the weekend and is still behind bars.  His bail was set at $10,000.
During the ride to jail Saturday, Young allegedly confessed to being "an alcoholic who drinks vodka straight from the bottle from the time he gets up in the morning until the time he goes to bed."

Investigators with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Health are now researching whether Young may have fabricated documents in order to get his massage license.  He’s been licensed in Washington State since September of 2016.

Department of Health spokesperson Sharon Moysiuk told KIRO 7, the DOH had no knowledge related to any sexual assault charges, investigations or convictions involving Young prior to the most recent allegations at Spa Vita Bella.

Cox Media Group

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