Halifax judge refuses to vary massage therapist's release conditions - PNI Atlantic News

[Steve Bruce]

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A Halifax massage therapist’s application to have his release conditions varied while he awaits trial on a charge of sexually assaulting a female client has been denied.

Halifax Regional Police announced March 6 that Sergii Kozub, 43, had been charged following an investigation into an alleged sexual assault at a clinic on Lacewood Drive in Halifax last Dec. 9.


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The assault allegedly happened at Massage Addict, where Kozub was employed at the time. The identity of the complainant is protected by a publication ban.

Kozub was arrested March 5 and released on an undertaking with conditions requiring him to remain in Nova Scotia, surrender his passport, have no communication with the complainant and not go to her residence.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Halifax provincial court in April but applied to have the conditions of his undertaking amended Friday, when he appeared in front of Judge Christine Driscoll.

Kozub wanted the conditions changed to allow him to travel out of country for a vacation, but the Crown opposed his request.

The judge imposed a publication ban on the evidence and submissions at the hearing, which was translated by a Russian interpreter.

The reasons Driscoll gave for denying Kozub’s application are also covered by the ban.

According to an online biography, Kozub graduated from a massage therapy program in February 2023 and was registered with the Massage Therapists’ Association of Nova Scotia.

The association has suspended Kozub’s membership pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

The organization’s website notes massage therapy is not a regulated health profession in Nova Scotia. That means that if the association puts limitations on a member or revokes membership, the therapist could legally choose to continue working in the province without being a member.


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