Weeks after Channel 9 first uncovered allegations of sexual assault against a Huntersville massage therapist, a second woman has come forward to tell her story.
The second woman to publicly discuss the allegations said when she told the owner of Hand and Stone Massage and Spa that she was sexually assaulted by Daniel Bonhom, she was offered a free massage and told to ask for a female masseuse the next time.
Police charged Bonhom with assaulting four women at spas across the Charlotte area, but a judge dismissed those claims in April based on a technicality. Bonhom was arrested on felony charges in April 2018 but the district attorney’s office said that based on the evidence, he should have been charged with misdemeanors instead.
[PAST COVERAGE: Sex offense charges against massage therapist dismissed on technicality]
By the time the misdemeanor charges could be refiled, the statue of limitations had expired.
This second accuser is now joining a civil lawsuit against the owners of the Hand and Stone Massage and Spa.
The spa’s owners did not respond to Channel 9’s latest questions, but did say last month that Bonhom passed a background check, was given conduct and ethics training and was properly licensed at the time the alleged assaults happened.
The spa later fired Bonhom, but in the lawsuit, the accusers say he should never have been hired.
The lawsuit claims that Bonhom was accused of assaulting clients when he worked previously for Massage Envy – though it was not clear which Massage Envy location Bonhom worked for.
North Carolina lawmakers approved a plan in 2017 to require massae businesses in the state to be licensed and any allegations of sexual misconduct to be passed on to a state board. Lawmakers are currently working to tweak the proposed law based on concerns from the massage industry, so the rules still have not taken effect.
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