CEDAR CITY — A man who worked as a licensed massage therapist in Cedar City has been arrested after multiple clients reported to police that he had touched them in a sexual manner.
Tyler Trost Braun, 42, was booked into Iron County Jail on Friday night. He currently faces a single count of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of Braun’s arrest, the alleged incident that led to the charge occurred in August of 2022 at a massage parlor in Cedar City.
The affidavit states that multiple females have come forward to report to police that Braun sexually assaulted them during massage sessions.
One female reportedly told investigators that Braun had touched her inappropriately on various parts of her body.
“She was very scared during the massage and stated that she froze and was unable to prevent him from continuing with this sexual assault,” the arresting Cedar City Police officer wrote in the affidavit.
During a recorded pretext phone call that investigators set up between Braun and the woman, he allegedly admitted to touching her genital area.
“She asked him again later in the phone call why he touched her inappropriately and he said, ‘I guess I’m delusional. I think that’s probably why it happened,’” the affidavit states, adding, “She told him that this was a sexual touch and it did not feel like it was a mistake. Tyler replied by stating, ‘Uh yeah, yeah, there’s no denying it was anything but a sexual act. It’s not like you touch there and it’s non-sexual. Once you touch there it’s sexual.’”
According to the charging document, Braun ended the pretext call by reading an entry from his personal journal, wherein he allegedly shared that he’d had a similar experience with a different client.
“He also read from the entry that this should not have happened and that his behavior should never cause women to sense fear with him,” the affidavit states. “He also wondered in this entry how many other women no longer feel safe with him.”
According to the Utah Division of Professional Licensing’s website, Braun’s license to practice massage therapy was issued in Vermont in 2016 and expired in Utah on May 31, 2023.
As of Tuesday morning, Braun continues held without bail in Iron County Jail and has a status of counsel and detention hearing scheduled for Oct. 23 before 5th District Judge Matthew L. Bell.
This report is based on statements from court documents and law enforcement officials and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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