Boulder police concerned about more victims of former massage therapist accused of sex assault - Boulder Daily Camera

[massage]

Matthew Mandel (Boulder County Sheriff’s Office)

Boulder police are concerned that a former massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting and groping clients may have victimized other people.

Matthew Neil Mandel, 40, has been charged with sexual assault and two counts of unlawful sexual contact.

He was released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 21.

According to an arrest affidavit, a woman told Boulder police she went to Massage Specialists in Boulder in April 2019 and was given an appointment with Mandel.

The woman said Mandel began to move her underwear and grope her. He then made her flip over and groped her again.

The woman said she did not discuss him touching her because she was “frightened,” but said she was crying for most of the time.

After the case was reported, Boulder detectives found another case in which another woman made similar allegations about Mandel for an incident while he was working at Colorado Athletic Club in Boulder.

In that case, a woman said Mandel also moved her underwear and groped her in September 2019, but also performed oral sex on her even after he told him to stop.

According to the affidavit, the woman reported the incident to the club, and managers said Mandel accused the woman of asking him to touch her breasts. But rather than typing out a statement, Mandel said he was moving out of state.

He was suspended the day the incident was reported to Colorado Athletic Club, and resigned the next day.

According to the affidavit, Mandel also was accused in a July 2019 incident that was reported to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. It that incident, the woman made accusations of “inappropriate sexual behavior by Mandel in the treatment room during and after massages” at Bodywork for Liberation, which was in Louisville at the time. That woman did not choose to pursue a criminal case.

Mandel’s massage therapy license was revoked on Jan. 27 by the state after he declined to respond to any of the allegations and the state “found that the public health, safety or welfare imperatively required emergency action and/or respondent deliberately and willfully violated the Colorado Massage Therapy Practice Act,” according to the affidavit.

Boulder police issued a release Wednesday indicating they are concerned there may be more victims that have not yet come forward.

Anyone who may have information about any of these crimes or any other incidents that could be related is asked to call Boulder police Detective Sarah Cantu at 303-441-4328 reference cases 20-9145 and 19-11217.