Masseuse jailed for 'sinister' sexual assault on three young clients

Michael Russell will spend at least three years in jail for sexually assaulting three of his clients at his home massage parlour in the years between 2019 and 2021.

The public gallery of the District Court in Dubbo was filled with supporters for Russell's victims on Friday, February 16 when Judge Karen Robinson told the 61-year-old his fate.

Russell was sentenced to five years and three months in custody, with a possibility of parole after three years.

He will be eligible for release on October 23, 2026.

Russell, who has been in custody since he was found guilty by a jury in October 2023, had his hands on his head as Judge Robinson sentenced the man for three counts of sexual intercourse without consent and seven counts of sexually touch another person without consent.

Judge Robinson said Russell had been a masseuse since 2011 and had breached the trust in his role of providing treatment as a professional.

"These women were in a situation of vulnerability, alone in a closed room in your home," she said.

Judge Robinson said the sexual assaults were opportunistic rather than planned and continued to grow more serious in conduct.

"He failed to recognise what he was doing was criminal and stop that behaviour," she said.

"It was done for his own gratification."

One of the victims took to the stand on Friday, February 9 to look her attacker in the eyes as she told him the pain and torture he put her through.

"You took my trust as a professional and obliterated it," she said.

"It was your selfish actions that mentally, physically and emotionally assaulted and violated me."

Despite the assault being five years ago for the woman, she now suffers from PTSD and anxiety.

"I still have that shame and embarrassment five years on," she said.

"I will never enjoy a massage again."

The woman - who has chronic back pain - says lying on a chiropractor bed is extremely hard.

"I feel sick thinking about the positions and where a chiropractor has to touch me, so I have to call up and say I'm not ready to attend an appointment," she said.

"It's been five very long years, I hope with more therapy I won't have to call up the day before and say I'm too scared to attend."

The woman told the court despite the slow process of healing, she plans on taking back her power and seeing Russell held accountable for his "selfish" actions.

"You won't break me," she said.

"I won't let this terrible experience rule my life or my future."

Judge Robinson had to tell Russell to "refrain from responding" during the woman's statement as he had his hands on his head, huffing while the woman spoke.

Judge Robinson told the court how one of the victims, who cannot be named for their protection, attended her appointment with Russell in 2019.

The 26-year-old, who had been receiving massages since she was 15, told Russell about her history with back pain. He took a number of notes before asking her to get undressed as he left the room.

The victim laid on her stomach, still in her underwear and with a towel over her.

Russell came back into the room and started the massage, before tucking the towel into the woman's underwear.

After 45 minutes, Russell pulled down the towel and pulled her underwear into a G-string before blowing cold air onto her bottom for five minutes.

The victim froze, feeling confused and violated.

Then Russell felt around with his fingers, touching her inappropriately.

The victim was then asked to roll over.

The woman pulled the towel up to cover her breasts but Russell pulled the towel down and began to massage them.

He told the victim he was massaging her breasts because they were large and the muscles were tense.

He did this for five minutes before playing with the woman's nipples.

The woman was then told to get dressed as her appointment had finished.

The woman got dressed, paid and left the house.

Once in the car she cried and called a friend who told her what had happened wasn't normal and that she had been hurt.

The victim then called the police and told them what happened but because she was embarrassed she didn't tell them the whole story.

It wasn't until the police got back in contact with her, saying that other girls were reporting Russell, did she give a full statement.

In October 2020, Russell's second victim attended his massage parlour claiming she had lower back pain and her regular masseuse was away.

The woman was asked to remove her clothing but her underwear and to lay face down with a towel covering herself.

Russell entered the room without warning and told the victim he would need to pull her underwear down slightly to reach the area of concern.

The victim went to pull down her underwear but Russell intervened. He pulled down the underwear to her knees and left the towel discarded.

Russell began to massage the inside of the woman's thigh and his hand continued to graze the bottom of the woman's cheek.

Russell continued to massage her thigh but as he did, his fingers touched the woman's vagina a few times.

Breathing heavily, Russell told the woman to relax and that he did massages differently. He also went on to say the woman looked like a "wild one".

Russell then told the woman to lay flat on the bed and to bend her legs while her underwear was still off. He then pushed her knees to her chest and moved them to the side so he could see her vagina.

When Russell went to remove her underwear completely, the woman said "no" and pulled them back up.

He then went and stood behind the victim to massage her back and shoulders. He went to massage her breasts but she told him she wasn't sore there.

Russell told her that pain can come from other areas and that's why he has to massage her breasts.

As Russell massaged the area around her ribs, he continually touched the underside of the victim's breasts.

The massage then finished and Russell told the woman she would need to come back every fortnight for treatment.

The woman paid and left.

As she got to her car she called her mother and told her about what had happened. She then saw another massage therapist and asked if what happened was standard procedure.

She spoke to the police and in 2021 got a phone call to put in an official statement.

In 2021, Russell's youngest victim - a 21-year-old woman who had never had a massage before - visited Russell's massage parlour.

After an initial consultation, he told the woman to get undressed. When she asked if she needed to take her bra off, he told her, "yep, take it all off".

Russell began the massage starting from the victim's feet and made his way up to her bottom which he massaged in circular motions. In doing so, he started to rub her inner thigh, his fingers entering her vagina.

She was then asked to roll over, and without the towel she was completely naked in front of Russell.

He then began to massage her breasts, groping and squeezing them for five to 10 minutes.

He then started to massage her from her breasts down to the bottom of her vagina, around five to seven times.

While doing this, he digitally penetrated her.

The victim thought that would be the end of the massage, so she told Russell she needed to go to the bathroom.

The victim returned to the room and laid down, using her arms to cover herself.

When the massage finished, the woman was told to get dressed.

She paid and left.

The woman drove to the workplace of her housemate, telling him everything that happened. CCTV from the man's workplace captured the woman's conversation, which included audio.

After speaking with her partner, the woman went to Dubbo Police Station and made a statement.

Police attended Russell's house and took photos as well as taking some of the towels - which had semen on them - to analyse. Russell denied all allegations of any sexual assault on the women, claiming he sought permission to touch them.

The following day, Russell went to Dubbo Police Station and told them that after the massage with the third victim, he was sent pornography and masturbated to it on the towel.

Judge Robinson told the court that given the timing of the masturbation, Russell's explanation was implausible.

"There is no other rational explanation, except that it was for your sexual gratification," she said.

Crown prosecutor Virginia Morgan told the court that Russell had an unusual level of victim blaming and the assaults had a "sinister undertone" because they were lying behind a closed door in the man's house.

"Having got away without consequences [for the first two offences] the assault arguably got more serious in behaviour," she said.

"That was because of their shock, distress and confusion and the position they were in and he knew that, he didn't stop of his own volition."

Ms Morgan said it was "unusual" for an offender to make such disparaging comments towards his victims.

"He blame shifts and fails to take any consequences for the responsibility for his behaviour," she said.

Russell's barrister Sally Orman-Hales, who appeared via AVL, told the court that some of the offences were on the lower end of the spectrum, but still believed that it would end in a full time jail sentence.

"There was actual knowledge involved as opposed to recklessness," she said.

"His actions were in applying the appropriate massage techniques."

Ms Orman-Hales said while police were contacted, her client was never put on notice that there was any issue.

"Despite the issues my client does not accept the finding of guilt from the jury," she said.

Judge Robinson said Russell continues to deny all the charges and refuses to accept responsibility for his crimes.

The court heard that Russell believed his victims had "previous mental health issues" and had outright denied the accusations.

Judge Robinson said that Russell went beyond victim blaming.

"Saying they had mental health issues, that's troubling," she said.

Judge Robinson said Russell had an absence of crime history and was of general good character until this offending.

"He has brazen, callous disregard for the victims and was motivated by sexual gratification."

He will not be returning to massage work once he is released from jail.