Police are convinced Jay Steel, 60, of Whieldon Road, Stoke-on-Trent abused more women and have appealed for those victims to come forward.
At Croydon Crown Court last Friday he was also ordered to comply with a seven-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and must sign the sex offenders register for the same period.
The two massage customers both separately complained to the police they had been variously touched between the legs, had their breasts fondled or made to touch masseur Steel’s crotch.
Both had responded to online ads, which offered discounted “deep tissue” massages for customers with Groupon vouchers.
He was convicted by a jury of three counts of sexual assault on February 27, 2017 in relation to the first woman and two counts of sexually assaulting the second woman on March 17, 2019.
The first complaint, a 32 year-old television journalist told Croydon Crown Court Steel had a room in a Shand Thames dental surgery, near London Bridge.
She said she was face-down on the treatment table and Steel touched her between her legs when she asked for them to be massaged after a recent work-out injury.
“As he went higher and higher I thought: ‘Where are you going?’ I totally freaked and must have made a sound because he said he was sorry and I felt so embarrassed for him.
“It happened again within a few minutes and I was flabbergasted. I made a horribly groaning croaky noise that was like: ‘Get the f*** off me.’
“This was under my underwear and I felt like I was not safe anymore and the person I had come to for help was a bit of a creep.
“I could feel myself tearing up and I was so embarrassed I froze.
“I just lay there like a dead animal thinking: ‘What’s the worst he can do in five minutes?’ I was so frightened that if I got up, I’m eight-and-a-half stone and he’s fourteen or fifteen stone.
“I couldn’t do anything. I was thinking: ‘You’re going to get raped or he he could really hurt you.’
“I booked a twenty-minute massage and got a two-hour ordeal,” she added, explaining Steel then placed each of her hands between his legs.
“He was using the shaking movement of my hand to touch himself. It was the kind of situation you think stupid ditzy girls get into.
“His breathing changed as if he was getting aroused.
‘His hands went into my bra and he started massaging really hard and it was causing me pain and I was going: ‘Argh, argh.’
“I could feel him touching my nipples. I was tearing up and he did this for ten minutes and mumbled something about lactic build-up.”
She admitted not shouting out to Steel’s receptionist, telling him to stop or trying to flee the treatment room. “I was half-naked,” she said. “I was not sure how far I would get.”
Prosecutor Judith Benson told the jury the second woman saw Steel just over two years later at an address in Dollis Hill, north-west London.
“She described him pushing her buttocks apart and pressing his crotch against her right hand.”
The woman also told police Steel touched her between her legs and moved her hand between his legs. “She also said she could feel her bra coming away from her body.”
A third woman came forward and said Steel molested her during a massage on April 4, 2019, but he was not convicted on two counts of sexual assault in relation to her.
“He focused on her groin and buttock area over her clothing in a rubbing movement,” said Ms Benson.
“She says he also told her to adopt the ‘downward dog’ yoga position, resulting in her rear being raised. “She felt he was staring at her.”
The woman also told police Steel placed her hand between his legs and she told the friend she went with it was a “weird” experience.
Throughout the trial Steel claimed he behaved “perfectly properly” and did not intentionally touch the complainants intimately.
After the sentencing, investigating officer Detective Constable Victoria Gaunt said: “Jay Steel is a sexual predator, who used the guise of a masseur to assault women who had placed their trust in him, for his own sexual gratification.
“The women Steel abused have shown great strength and courage to report their ordeal to police and support our investigation - I hope his conviction brings them some sense of justice.
“It is highly likely that Steel carrie out other attacks while masquerading as a masseur.
“I would ask any women who believe they have been a victim of Steel to come forward and speak to police.
“I hope his conviction demonstrates the Met’s commitment to investigating sexual offenders and ensuring they are held to account for their actions.”
No comments:
Post a Comment