Man sues New York spa over claims he was sexually abused during massage

A man is suing a New York City spa claiming his massage therapist touched him sexually during a treatment.

Ronnie Arnau from Woodland Park, New Jersey, says he visited Living Fresh Men’s Spa on September 8 for what he thought was a regular massage and facial.

But shortly after the massage started, Arnau, 34, claims his masseuse Pei Tian began to focus “exclusively on Arnau’s buttocks for an inordinate amount of time, making Arnau very uncomfortable,” according to the lawsuit filed in the Manhattan Supreme Court, as reported by the New York Post.

The court papers then state that Tian “moved his fingers below Arnau’s buttocks and began caressing” his penis.

“At no point had Arnau indicated, orally or otherwise, that he consented to Tian touching his penis. Nor did he ever indicate any desire for him to do so,” the lawsuit states.

Arnau reportedly did not move until the masseuse removed the client’s towel and asked him to turn over - at which point “having shaken off his initial state of shock, Arnau abruptly rose form the massage table and demanded that Tian leave the room.”

According to the lawsuit, Arnau immediately called the cops who arrived and arrested Tian - who the court papers claim was then charged with “forcible touching and sexual abuse.”

Living Fresh did not answer a phone call from The Independent but a receptionist at the spa, Sean, told The Post that Tian had worked with the spa for a decade and is still an employee there.

Sean also said he had not heard of the allegations and that “It’s not that kind of spa” - despite Arnau's claims that the spa owners know that massages of a sexual nature take place.

On the spa’s website, the listed treatments include Swedish, deep tissue, shiatsu massages, as well as hot stone massages, Thai massages, and signature “four hand” massages.

On Yelp, where Living Fresh has four stars, most of the reviews are positive - except for one in which a client wrote his masseuse “immediately started massaging my a**” and mostly stayed in the area for more than an hour.

The lawsuit filed by Aranu is seeking unspecified damages, according to The Post.

The Independent has contacted Living Fresh Men’s Spa for comment.