Massage Therapist Accused of Sexual Assualt Worked at Issaquah Spa

A massage therapist charged with groping a client late last year was working at an Issaquah massage business as recently as last Friday, owners confirmed.

Massage therapist Matthew E. Usher was fired Friday from Elements Therapeutic Massage Issaquah after he reportedly told his manager that he was charged with sexual assault and would likely lose his state license.

Elements owner Glenda Sue Poletti said after Usher told her about his legal troubles last week, she decided that he "would no longer be on the staff" of the massage studio. Usher began working at Elements in January, just weeks after he was fired from Massage Envy in Newcastle and then arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in December 2012 when he allegedly reached under the draping and touched a patient’s breast.

Poletti said she didn't know about the arrest at the time he was hired, and Usher was insured and had a valid state-issued massage therapy license at the time.

Washington State health officials suspended his massage practitioner's license on Monday after an administrative court charged with sexual misconduct.
 
According to the state law, Matthew E. Usher cannot practice massage in Washington until the charges are resolved.

"We follow the law," she said, "We don't employ therapists who don't have a license, which we verify through the state ... Even if a therapist lets their license or their insurance temporarily lapse — for any reason — we would take them off the schedule."

Usher was charged in March with one count of indecent liberties and later pleaded not guilty.

Court documents stated that Usher, 30, was last living in Maple Valley and has worked at the Massage Envy in Newcastle for six years.

A King County Judge granted a request to delay a hearing on the case so that Usher could negotiate with King County Prosecutors on a potential plea deal.

Another hearing is scheduled for July 11 at 1 p.m. at the King County Regional Justice Center in Kent.