Accidental touching couldn't be missed, expert tells massage therapist's sexual assault trial - Calgary Herald

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Baltazar faces 16 charges of sexual assault over allegations he repeatedly touched the private parts of male clients at two Calgary sports therapy clinics.

Spaner asked Mwamburi how a massage therapist would know they had inadvertently touched a client’s private areas, perhaps with their forearm, if they weren’t told about it.

“They would feel it,” she told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Willie deWit.

“Our work is extremely tactile,” Mwamburi said.

“A massage therapist would have incredible sensitivity.”

The witness said therapists are taught about a number of “prohibited areas” on the body that they are to avoid, and are shown techniques, such as draping — in which the sheet over the client is tucked in — to prevent exposure.

“The sexual organs are protected by the drape,” Mwamburi said.

“Is there any exposure of the sexual organs to the air?” Spaner asked.

“No, there is not.”

The expert’s evidence is being heard in a voir dire, or trial within a trial, as defence lawyer Karen Molle may challenge some of the expert’s opinion.

Mwamburi is to be cross-examined Thursday.

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