Alleged Spa Groping Victims Can Testify At Suspect's Trial
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Two alleged victims of a massage molester at a Coconut Grove spa will be allowed to testify in his criminal trial involving a third woman, even though they did not call police after they claim they were victimized.
Victor Antonio Sanchez is accused of sexually assaulting a woman, a financial advisor, who went for a massage at the Tiano spa in the Grove.
Publicity surrounding his arrest, after she filed a police report earlier this year, prompted two other women to come forward saying who they had been assaulted by Sanchez at the spa.
In court Thursday, one of the women who came forward said she did not call police because she was afraid.
"I was scared. They had my credit card information. They knew who I was," the woman said." I didn't know what he was capable of."
The second woman said she did not call police because she was assured by the spa's management that Sanchez would be fired. He was not. He was still on the job months later to allegedly molest the woman in the case that saw the criminal charge brought against him.
Judge Thomas Rebull rejected the defense's effort to keep the two other alleged victims from testifying in Sanchez's upcoming criminal trial.
READ: Grove Spa Ordered To Turn Over Name Of Woman Groped By Masseur
"I am finding that they are admissible in evidence," Rebull said from the bench. The judge said the other women's experiences were similar enough to that of the third victim that their testimony would be relevant.
Sanchez, who has demanded a speedy trial, is expected to have his case heard before a jury beginning Monday.
In an exclusive interview with CBS4 News last month, and again outside the court room Thursday, Sanchez insisted that he is innocent.
READ: Exclusive: Spa Sexual Battery Suspect: "I'm Innocent."
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