Palo Alto massage therapist arrested on suspicion of sexual assault
Police in Palo Alto Tuesday announced the recent arrest of a massage therapist who is accused of sexually assaulting a client in November of last year.
According to a Palo Alto Police Department press release, police received a call on the evening of November 10, 2023, from a woman in her twenties reporting that she was the victim of a sexual assault at the hands of her masseur earlier that day at Massage Envy, an establishment located at 4335 El Camino Real in Palo Alto.
A police investigation into the incident revealed that the suspect had sexually assaulted the victim during a massage appointment, though the victim did not sustain any physical injury during the assault. The subsequent police investigation identified the suspect as 42-year-old San Jose resident Arturo Gomez.
Detectives submitted the case to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, who filed two felony counts of sexual penetration and sexual battery against the suspect. A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge signed a warrant for the suspect's arrest on January 18, 2024.
Police were able to arrest Gomez without incident at the home of one of his relatives on the 400 block of Washington Street in San Jose last Thursday at about 5:00 p.m. He was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail.
Police said the administrative personnel at Massage Envy worked with investigators and terminated Gomez as soon as authorities informed them of this incident. The investigation additionally determined that the suspect had previously worked at other massage establishments in the South Bay, but currently police are not aware of any additional victims or crimes committed by Gomez.
Anyone with information about this incident or suspect is asked to contact the Palo Alto PD 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413. Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.