A 34-year-old massage therapist in Park City, Utah is being charged with two counts of first-degree felony rape, object rape and forcible sexual abuse. The suspect was identified as Merga Jeffrey Kennard, who reportedly made abusive sexual advances on two customers in March and April.
The first incident happened on Mar. 21 where Kennard allegedly touched the customer without her consent. Aside from that, he also made several comments about her body.
Roughly a month later, another customer was raped by the massage therapist. This happened on Apr. 17 with the victim wanting to get a massage but ended up getting raped by the 34-year-old man. At that time, the victim cried and told Kennard that “this is not right” when she was raped.
“An adult female went to an establishment to get a massage from Kennard,” the statement read. “The female completely disrobed and lay on a table.”
Kennard is now booked at the Summit County Sheriff’s office with a no-bail warrant, Fox 13 reported.
A 3rd District Court judge found Kennard indigent and appointed a public defender. Kennard is considered a danger to others, a reason why he was jailed with no bail set. He is considered to be a threat if he were to be released to the community. Kennard was arrested Tuesday and the charges were meted the day after.
A scheduling conference is planned for Monday. If Kennard is convicted of first-degree felonies, he could face a possible life sentence in prison.
This comes days after a 20-year-old woman was walking through a park in Wythenshawe after meeting with her friends before she was attacked by a group of men. The victim was identified as Kirkup Gardens who was raped at around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Detectives are now investigating the matter which occurred just yards away from Wythenshawe Police station.
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