Hunter
06/13/23
An Iowa City man who runs a massage business has had his license suspended after a complaint of alleged improper touching and for failing to disclose his conviction on sex crimes when applying for his license.
Iowa Capital Dispatch reports that the Iowa Board of Massage Therapy issued an emergency order this week suspending the license of Abelardo “AJ” Rodriguez of Iowa City, citing a recent complaint from a female patient who alleges Rodriguez touched her inappropriately during an appointment nine weeks ago.
Court records indicate that in one case, Rodriguez was accused of sending a woman unwanted messages on Facebook back in September 2015, and later that year allegedly came to the woman’s place of employment and exposed himself to her on two different occasions. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge.
The Board alleges that when Rodriguez applied for his massage license in 2018, he failed to disclose his convictions.
The issue came up when a patient complained in late March this year that Rodriguez massaged her breasts for 15 minutes without her consent. The board claims Rodriguez previously told the woman he was certified in full chest and breast massage. He provided her a consent form to sign, but she declined.
When confronted about the incident, Rodriguez claimed that he had the woman’s verbal consent.
The board’s investigation discovered the information about Rodriguez’s past convictions, which they say would have impacted his ability to get a license had they been disclosed in 2018.
Rodriguez is charged by the board with improper sexual contact with a client, engaging in unethical conduct, fraud in procuring a license and engaging in conduct that subverts or attempts to subvert a board investigation. His license has been indefinitely suspended.
