A former Victoria masseur accused of sexually assaulting 10 of his clients took the stand this week to say he didn’t touch any women inappropriately, and wasn’t romantically interested in them.
Ajesh Jacob is facing 10 counts of sexual assault stemming from his work at Big Feet, a massage and reflexology studio in downtown Victoria, between 2019 and 2021.
He testified through a Malayalam interpreter in his judge-alone trial Wednesday, denying all allegations of sexual touching of the women, whose identities are protected by a publication ban.
Jacob said he couldn’t remember massaging one of the women, who testified against him and who said she had received multiple massages from him.
He admitted to massaging a woman’s buttocks, but said he asked for consent first, because the woman had had surgery on her buttocks and he was worried about an accident as a result of his treatment.
He denied touching her vagina or pulling down a sheet and her underwear to expose her buttocks.
Jacob told the court he asked a second-time client if he could send her a friend request on Facebook after providing a massage and reflexology treatment.
Jacob said he chatted with the woman for about 10 minutes after the treatment. In that time, he asked if she would like to be friends on Facebook and she said yes, he testified.
The woman gave him her full name, and because her last name was difficult to spell, she typed it out on his phone, he said.
She left a good tip, the two hugged goodbye and the woman left, Jacob said.
He testified that he contacted the woman on Facebook that night and she didn’t respond. He messaged her again a few days later, on Feb. 14, he said.
“Why did you contact [her] on Valentine’s Day?” defence lawyer Jordan Watt asked.
“I sent messages to many people with Valentine’s Day wishes,” Jacob said.
Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Lorne Phipps, Jacob agreed his Valentine’s Day message to the woman was two hearts.
“You sent her a message to follow up with her because you were interested in a relationship with her,” Phipps put to Jacob.
“No,” he responded, saying the woman was one of many he sent messages to that day.
When Phipps suggested Jacob asked another client for her phone number because he was romantically interested in her, Justice Catherine Murray told Jacob not to answer, saying she was worried Phipps was wandering into “forbidden territory” — myths and stereotypes in sexual-assault cases.
A common example is making a suggestion that if a woman is dressed a certain way, she must be inviting sexual attention, she said.
Murray said she was concerned Phipps was suggesting that because Jacob is a man, he must have been sexually attracted to female patients or that he must have been interested romantically in women.
“My concern started just after the break where it was put to Mr. Jacob with some disbelief that it was impossible that he was not sexually attracted to at least some of the 1,500 women he had massaged,” she said, acknowledging it was possible she was being “hypersensitive” on the issue.
Jacob had earlier said, after questioning from Watt, that he had never been attracted to any of his massage clients. Under-cross examination, Phipps challenged Jacob, saying of his 3,000 massage clients at Big Feet, about 1,500 must have been women.
“So I put it to you that you were sexually attracted to at least some of those women you came across in those 1,500 massages,” Phipps said.
Jacob responded that they weren’t to his liking.
Phipps said the Crown intends to argue that Jacob’s evidence that he was not attracted to any of his clients was unbelievable and should not be accepted.
“Because it is incredible, it negatively impacts on Mr. Jacob’s credibility,” he said.
The trial is expected to resume Tuesday. A verdict could come as early as Thursday.
