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Bellevue Police Release Sketch of Suspect in Sexual Assault of Massage Therapist

A Bellevue massage therapist was sexually assaulted at knifepoint Tuesday night by a customer, Bellevue police reported. Police released a sketch of the man on Thursday.

have released a sketch of a suspect in a sexual assault of a massage therapist in Bellevue's Overlake area. 

The Tuesday night by a repeat customer, Bellevue police reported.

The woman, 45, told police that the suspect, a repeat customer at the business, scheduled a massage at the business in the 15200 block of NE 20th St., started to make sexual advances towards her during the appointment.

According to the police department, when the woman refused his offer, he grew angry, threatened her with a pocket knife and proceeded to sexually assault her. The victim told police she recognized him as being a past client of the business, but his identity is unknown, police said. 

A K9 search of the suspect was conducted but the suspect was not located, police said. It was unknown if the suspect left on foot or in a vehicle.

The suspect is described as a white male aged 45-46 with a muscular build, black hair and no tattoos. He was professionally dressed with black pants and a white shirt.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Bellevue Police Detective Bob Thompson at 425-452-4871.

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Caitlin Moran (Editor) August 31, 2012 at 06:39 pm
FYI, we just removed a reader comment from this post that suggested the victim was fabricating or somehow to blame for this assault. Although there are definitely some questions left unanswered in the police department's account of the incident, Patch does not tolerate personal attacks in its comments section—especially ones directed at alleged victims of sexual assault. More information can be found in our Terms of Use section: http://redmond.patch.com/terms —Caitlin Moran, editor
dorimonsonfan August 31, 2012 at 07:31 pm
Oops, sorry about that. Didn't mean to offend anyone. I am not meaning to place blame or attack at all here, but this story needs a bit of clarification. Is it at all possible for for a licenced massage practitioner with a legitimate office to have a repeat customer and not have any idea who that person is? Makes zero sense. Something is clearly missing from the story.
Caitlin Moran (Editor) August 31, 2012 at 07:38 pm
Thanks for the restated comment, dorimonsonfan.
Malia Kawaguchi August 31, 2012 at 08:57 pm
It could be a massage business with multiple practitioners. I'm a repeat massage customer at the ProClub, but there are many therapists there who haven't worked with me directly. Even more likely at places like Massage Envy and the like...
dorimonsonfan August 31, 2012 at 09:29 pm
maliia,
good point. that might explain the inexplicable anonymity here.
Caitlin Moran (Editor) August 31, 2012 at 11:34 pm
I asked our Bellevue editor, Venice Buhain, if she had any additional insight. She said the exact phrasing on the Bellevue PD press release was that the therapist "she recognized him (the suspect) as a past client." As Malia pointed out, that doesn't necessary mean he was her client.
andie September 3, 2012 at 06:22 pm
Possible the client gave a false name on the form and paid cash. Obviously one would not rape if he knew personal information would lead the police back to him. As an LMP I know that some men view us as sexual objects no matter how professional we are. My sympathies are with the victim, I hope she is OK. May the police quickly catch this guy before he hurts someone else. And for those who want to blame the victim, I hope this never happens to anyone in their family.
Note Article
Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
Jeanne Gustafson (Editor) June 5, 2013 at 10:18 am
What's your sun profile? Would someone be able to plant veggies, sunflowers?--or are you more cool,Read More wet, shady in your locale? And do you have a generic gmail account people can contact you at, to preserve your privacy?
Ariana Burgess June 13, 2013 at 09:36 am
Our front yard gets a fair amount of sun, it faces south. Back yard is more shady/wet. We've beenRead More trying to grow grass back there and just have never had good success. I would be open to whatever someone suggests for planting (veggies, sunflowers whatever). People can contact me at ariana at chris burgess dot com.
Jeanne Gustafson (Editor) June 6, 2013 at 06:36 am
Thanks for adding your comments, Stacey!
Carol June 6, 2013 at 08:39 am
Thanks for your responses! We love living here!
Carol June 8, 2013 at 09:02 am
Thanks Stacey!
Jeanne Gustafson (Editor) June 3, 2013 at 03:22 pm
Thanks for posting. For those who don't know, here's the address for Flying Apron: 16541 RedmondRead More Way, Ste E Redmond, WA 98052