PLANTATION, Fla. – A massage therapist is facing two felony charges after police said he sexually battered a client during an at-home session in Plantation in January.
Police said Sebastian Ernesto Lombano Jaramillo, 41, of Coconut Creek, later acknowledged and apologized for the assault in text messages with the woman and in a recorded phone call with detectives listening in.
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According to an arrest warrant from the Plantation Police Department, the sexual battery happened on Jan. 15 and the woman reported what happened to police three days later.
The victim told detectives that she had had four previous sessions with Lombano Jaramillo and had “built up a level of trust with him” to the point where she felt comfortable fully undressing and covering herself with just a sheet, the warrant states.
Police said the Jan. 15 massage, which was supposed to be a deep tissue massage for pain, “started normally,” but Lombano Jaramillo began touching and stimulating her genitals and anus, leaving her in “shock.”
Authorities said he also performed oral sex on her. The woman told police that she faked an orgasm in an attempt to get Lombano Jaramillo to stop.
Amid the assault, police said Lombano Jaramillo told the woman to “flip over on the table and put her butt up,” the warrant states. Police said she complied but asked, “What are we doing?”
Police said she “panicked more” as she saw the massage therapist look down at his pants.
The woman said Lombano Jaramillo “laughed and said something to the effect of ‘Oh, it’s nothing like that. I want to eat your a--,’” authorities said.
“What?” police said the woman asked, leading him to repeat the statement, to which they said the woman replied, “No, thank you.”
The woman was “too shocked and scared” to say anything else, the warrant states, but Lombano Jaramillo allegedly ignored the victim, “bent down and began licking her anus” and stimulating her genitals once more.
Police said the woman told detectives that she was eventually able to get him to move off her.
They said she then agreed to let him massage her head because “this was usually the last thing” Lombano Jaramillo did.
He then tugged on the woman’s hair and massaged her breasts, police said.
The warrant states that when he finished the massage, Lombano Jaramillo said something to the effect of, “What a morning, huh?” and was “smiling giddily.”
Police said the woman got changed in the bathroom and came out to sign Lombano Jaramillo’s phone indicating that she received the massage. The warrant states the encounter left the woman in pain.
The warrant states that immediately after the massage, the victim’s husband commented that she “looked pale,” to which she replied she had “never received a massage like that before,” unable to verbalize what happened.
Police said she later told her husband that “Sebastian had tried to give her a happy ending and that he had given her oral sex,” according to the warrant, and warned her sister, another client of his.
Detectives reviewed a series of text messages the woman sent Lombano Jaramillo later that evening, according to the warrant.
“Sebastian, today should not have happened,” police said she wrote in part. “I allowed myself to be in a compromised position and should have spoken up about my discomfort when things crossed a line.”
She then told him that she would no longer be his client, the warrant states.
“Please be aware of what you are doing and to whom,” police said she texted him. “(S)ome people are open to different aspects of massage with clear consent and then there is a whole other level that was crossed today without prior verbal and affirmative consent.”
Police said she later added, “You are very gifted and should not use your position in a way to make others uncomfortable or gratify your own desires.”
The warrant states that Lombano Jaramillo texted the woman back apologizing.
“You are absolutely right and I cannot find the words to describe how awful I feel and made you feel,” police said he wrote. “I’m terribly sorry and disappointed on (sic) myself for letting you go and making you go through that awful position. Please accept my deepest apologies.”
He continued, police said, by promising a full refund.
“Again, I’m terribly sorry for making your day a discomfortable (sic) experience,” police said he then texted, before sending the woman a $440 refund via Zelle.
Police said after the woman gave a sworn statement, she agreed to a recorded, controlled phone call with Lombano Jaramillo, in which he said things like, “I got carried away, I recognize my mistake” and “I’m terribly sorry, you have no idea.”
“Sebastian stated that he thought because of (the victim’s) body language that he thought it was okay, but also that he had trouble eating and was not sure if he wanted to continue his massage practice because of how bad he felt,” the warrant states.
Coconut Creek police arrested Lombano Jaramillo Wednesday on two charges of sexual battery; he was being held on a $70,000 bond in the Broward Main Jail as of Thursday.
Editor’s note: Jail records, which originally listed the suspect as having no bond, were updated after this article’s publication to indicate that he was given a $70,000 bond. The article has been updated accordingly.