SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A Sioux Falls massage therapist is no longer certified in the state of South Dakota after being accused of sexually groping at least three of his clients.
This woman, who we will call Kylie, says a massage therapist who worked at Massage Envy on South Louise Avenue touched her inappropriately last summer while getting a massage.
“I had gone to this massage place dozens of times, but this last visit was completely different than the others I had been to before,” Kylie said.
Kylie told KELOLAND Investigates she’d had previous sessions with the same massage therapist, but a June appointment was different.
“He was very rough on my chest, he basically cupped both of my breasts with his bare hands, he did the same with my butt and got very close to my underwear line, which had never happened previously,” Kylie said.
He’s now charged with one count of sexual contact without consent.
Smit’s first court appearance was back in December. Our cameras were there, but he was not. Because the crime is a misdemeanor, Smit’s attorney Clint Sargent, who didn’t want to talk with KELOLAND Investigates, appeared on his behalf and entered a not guilty plea.
According to court papers the victim was laying on the massaging table, facing up, with no clothes on, other than underwear, under a sheet. That’s when Kylie says Smit used his bare hand to grab her breasts and started “groping” her. Kylie also says in court papers at one point, she felt Smit’s finger touch the exterior of her vagina.
The documents go onto say Smit began massaging her buttocks again with his bare hands on her bare skin with no sheet. Kylie says she never said anything at the time.
“Just because he had said ‘I’m doing this because of this muscle and I’m doing this because you’re a mom and you’re bending and I know it hurts, but that’s going to make you feel better in the end.’ Just using big words I didn’t really understand and I trusted him, I had him several times and I kind of went with it even though it didn’t feel exactly right,” Kylie said.
Kylie says the longer she thought about it, the more she became suspicious.
“I told one of my friends, who is a chiropractor and asked what did he think of that and he said that’s definitely not right,” Kylie said.
When Kylie received a text message about Smit being fired, she realized she needed to report to police what happened.
“They asked me a bunch of questions, I had to come down to the station and be interrogated in a police room, which was really scary and intimidating, I had to tell my whole story all over again,” Kylie said.
Police took the report and began an investigation.
“We realize that sometimes these things are embarrassing people may not want to talk about it, they may not feel comfortable about it, but the best thing they can do is report it to police right away,” Sioux Falls Police Department spokesman Sam Clemens said. “That gives us a chance to investigate it right away and certainly, there could be the potential for other victims out there and we can reach out to other people. Maybe we can stop things before it continues on.”
Kylie says she felt extremely violated.
“Oh yeah for sure, when you go some place to relax you know monthly, that’s your self care thing and for this to happen. Yeah, it was horrible,” Kylie said.
“I don’t want him practicing ever again and I don’t want him to touch other women and I’m almost positive there’s more than me and if they see this I want them to come forward and tell the authorities as well,” Kylie said.
And they have. Court documents have details from police interviews with two more alleged victims.
One woman told investigators, in September, Smit was massaging her upper leg and his thumb came into contact with her vagina three times. She also says Smit was making circles with his bare hands on her bare breast to include her nipples.
Another victim told police, during a massage in May, Smit’s palm or pinky finger rubbed up against her vagina three to four times.
Police made contact with Smit by phone they asked him if had ever massaged anyone’s breasts while working at Massage Envy. He initially declined to answer, then said “I can’t talk to you right now, I do not massage breasts.”
We decided to see if he wanted to talk with KELOLAND Investigates to get his side of the story. But when we went to the address listed on his arrest warrant, no one answered the door.
Meanwhile, Kylie says she’s glad other women have come forward.
“If it doesn’t feel right you know say something, tell the manager of the company and don’t back down because they will want you to,” Kylie said.
“I mean we have three people there’s certainly a good chance there could be others, but at this point we just don’t know,” Clemens said.
Court papers say the other two alleged victims didn’t file charges against Smit. One said to police she just wants to make sure Smit’s license was revoked. The other said she didn’t want to be a victim in a criminal case.
Smit no longer works at Massage Envy. We checked with the South Dakota Health Department and he’s no longer certified in the state.
We also reached out to Massage Envy for comment. We are still waiting to hear back.
