A man is facing charges after allegedly raping a customer while operating an unlicensed massage therapist business out of his Federal Way home for over a year.
Ismael Valdez-Rivera, 56, was charged with second-degree rape and a felony charge of operating an unlicensed practice of a profession requiring a license in King County Superior Court on April 13. His bail is set at $25,000.
Valdez-Rivera also has a pending second-degree rape charge for an almost identical crime which occurred around the same time, documents state.
A Federal Way detective said Valdez-Rivera has been “operating an unlicensed business solely for the Hispanic or Latino community,” according to documents.
“I believe this has allowed him to prey upon a vulnerable group of women with a low likelihood of reporting inappropriate touching or rape under the guise of providing massage therapy,” the detective wrote in the probable cause document.
Sometime between July 16-18, a 41-year-old woman visited Belmor Mobile Home Park to visit a massage therapist, based on a recommendation from a former coworker. Her husband drove her to the appointment and waited outside, documents state.
The woman and her husband were having difficulty getting pregnant, and the coworker said the massage therapist has “done many massages in the past that has [sic] fixed other people,” charging documents state.
At her appointment, the woman was wearing underwear while covered by a towel on a massage table inside the man’s home near the 2100 block of South 324th Street in Federal Way. Valdez-Rivera allegedly massaged her back, arms and neck, then massaged her breast, documents state.
The woman told police she thought it was a normal part of the massage. Then the man allegedly massaged down her body and began touching her stomach, documents state. Valdez-Rivera reportedly removed the woman’s underwear and told her “he needed to check inside her vagina to make sure everything was okay,” charging documents state.
The woman said he was not wearing a glove when he allegedly inserted his fingers inside her, documents state.
At the end of the appointment, Valdez-Rivera allegedly told the woman to give recommendations to her friends and charged her $80 for the massage.
The woman went home and showered because she felt dirty, and she contemplated suicide because of the guilt, charging document state. After confessing to her husband what had occurred, the woman identified Valdez-Rivera from a police photo montage.
Police interviewed Valdez-Rivera who reportedly said between March 2020 and July 2021, he had given approximately 100 massages to about 100 different women.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declined an indecent liberties case involving Valdez-Rivera in 2011 due to insufficient evidence. Police found he was served a Cease and Desist order in 2013 from the Washington State Department of Health based on the 2011 massage case.
He was ordered to permanently stop engaging in any and all conduct constituting the practice of massage practitioner in Washington, unless he obtained proper health care credentials, the documents state.
When interviewed, Valdez-Rivera told police he had received his massage therapist training from his grandmother.
Police searched Valdez-Rivera’s home in September 2021 and found a black massage table, a blood pressure cuff and a ultrasonic fat cavitation machine. They also found towels, massage lotions, and reflexology charts, among other items which indicated he was operated a massage business, documents state.
Police also found approximately $1,464 in cash, large qualities of disinfectant, and bath oil and body wash marketed for chronic pain or fatigue.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, support is available 24/7 by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (800-656-4673). Survivors in King County can also contact the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center Resource Line at 888-99-VOICE or visit www.kcsarc.org/gethelp.
