A married British Hollywood actor has been questioned by police after a massage therapist claimed that he groped her bottom and rubbed his private parts against her during an appointment.
Officers interviewed the actor, who is well known in Britain and US, under caution at the end of last month in relation to the alleged sexual assault.
It took place at the actor’s home in London, the Sunday Times reports, where the woman would come to give him a massage.
The alleged victim, a single mother who works for a reputable company, said the claimed assault left her ‘frozen’ and that it took a long time for her to realise what had happened.
An actor well known in Britain and the US has been questioned by police over allegations of sexual assault. The actor and the massage therapist have not been named
She explained to the Sunday Times how, on the day of the alleged assault, the actor had tried to kiss her before the treatment began.
‘When I started to massage his upper legs, he started to ask me to go further up and close to his crotch and close to his sexual organs,’ she said.
When she became visibly upset the actor, who was wearing an untied dressing gown, said he ‘understood’.
But then, she claimed, he ‘grabs my waist’ and starts to ‘touch me, touch my body, touch my bottom’ and to ‘rub himself on me’.
After the alleged incident, the woman claims the actor then told her he did not have enough money to pay for the massage session.
She said she had started working for the actor in early summer last year, and was soon attending regular appointments that earned her £500-a-month.
They developed a friendship, she explained, and began exchanging ‘flirtatious’ messages in August, which were often sent late at night and sometimes signed off with kisses by both. The woman said she had developed feelings for the actor.
The alleged assault took place in the Autumn.
She began working for the actor in early summer last year, before the alleged assault took place in Autumn. She reported it January 30. Above is a stock image of a massage
Afterwards, the woman said they continued to message and that she returned to his home for another appointment a week later, hoping he would apologise and pay the money he owed her.
‘I just wanted to make things good and get paid,’ she said. ‘I went there again and I said, “He’s going to apologise. Everything’s going to be fine.” I really needed to talk to him about what happened because everything was really fast.’
But, after arriving, the actor refused to talk about it, encouraged her to leave, and paid what he owed with a £40 tip.
The assault was reported to Scotland Yard on January 30. The man and massage therapist have not been named.
The Office for National Statistics says approximately 700,000 people aged between 16 to 59 years old were victims of sexual assault in 2018, a number which has tripled in recent years due to ‘improvements in police recording and more victims being willing to report’.
‘The number of offences recorded by the police remains well below the number of victims,’ they said.
‘Of the offences that do come to the attention of police, many don’t progress further through the criminal justice system.’
The alleged assault took place in the actor’s London home, that the woman regularly visited to give him massages. She earned around £500-a-month from the appointments
Around half of all sexual offences reported to police didn’t proceed to court due to ‘evidential difficulties’, they said.
The NHS says that victims of sexual assault can contact voluntary organisations including Women’s Aid, Victim Support, The Survivors Trust or Survivors UK (for men) for support.
Sexual assault referral centres are also available, which offer medical, practical and emotional support through trained doctors, nurses and support workers.