Massage Studio Owner Convicted of Sexual Assault After Jury Rejects Consent Claim

A massage studio owner, who cannot be fully named for legal reasons, has been convicted on counts of sexual assault and sexual touching without consent, after a jury in the Parramatta District Court rejected his claim that the victim had consented.

The jury deliberated for just over two-and-a-half hours on Thursday before returning unanimous guilty verdicts for a single count of sexual touching and an additional count of sexual intercourse, both without consent.

The 67-year-old man, identified here as Goldberg, had his bail revoked and was immediately placed behind bars ahead of his sentence hearing on December 11.

The female victim, who cannot be legally named or identified, was assaulted in the massage studio at Goldberg’s cliff-side home after being doused in oil and blindfolded.

“I felt frozen in fear and I was worried about what else he might do,” she told jurors earlier this month. “I felt in a lot of pain.”

Goldberg admitted penetrating the woman but claimed he reasonably believed she had consented. His defence barrister, April Francis, argued that he had asked, “Are we alright to keep going here?” referring to the woman’s groin area, and that there was no verbal instruction by the woman to stop.

However, the prosecution, led by Ann Bonnor, argued that Goldberg never mentioned that the massage would contain anything sexual. The victim testified that when he asked “are we alright to keep going?”, she said yes, believing he was only referring to the continuation of the massage. She told the jury she attempted to stop the assault by putting her legs together and even faked an orgasm to try and get him to cease.

The jury was also played a police-recorded phone call from October 26, 2023, where Goldberg apologized “unreservedly” to the victim and offered her a complimentary massage. Her reply underlined the trauma: “There definitely will be no way in hell I’d come back or refer anyone to you.”

The court was also told that a 20-minute radio segment, which involved co-presenters Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O, was part of the crown case, though there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of the radio personalities.