A masseur on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting an Ohio woman during a massage in a Gold Coast salon was found not guilty Wednesday.
Dino Botello, 31, was accused of kissing and groping the woman in Kiva Salon, 196 E. Pearson St., during a hot-stone massage in December 2006. The woman testified in the one-day bench trial that she was halfway through her hourlong massage when Botello, of the 1900 block of West Arthur Avenue, assaulted her.
She testified that after she asked him to stop, he asked her if she was sure she wanted him to stop and then asked that she not tell anyone about the incident.
“He said: ‘Things like this only happen in the movies. Sorry, I couldn’t help himself based on how my body reacted,’ ” she said. “He gave me his card and said [to contact him] if I ever needed any services in the future and kissed me on my forehead.”
Prosecutors argued that Botello had a pattern of taking advantage of women who were left naked and vulnerable on his massage table. A second woman who came forward after news of the first incident testified that she was the victim of a similar assault. But the defense argued that the women’s stories were not credible because they did not immediately come forward to say they had been assaulted.
Judge John Fleming ruled that the women’s testimonies were uncorroborated because they did not immediately give a full accounting of what happened to them. He said the law requires that such statements be spontaneous without time for reflection or fabrication.
