The Washington State Department of Health has placed a Woodland massage practitioner on probation after he inappropriately touched a student during a private tutoring session and made sexual comments to her.
During the five-hour tutoring session in May 2014, while demonstrating hands-on stretches, Scott R. Lesieur touched the student’s genitals and buttocks, as well as made lewd sexual comments toward her, according to health department records.
Health officials found that Lesieur’s behavior “showed a significant lack of judgment, as well as a distorted sense of professional boundaries.”
Lesieur, who’s been a licensed massage practitioner since 1997, currently works at Breathe Yoga and Massage in Vancouver, where he does deep tissue and sports massage. He is also the director of the Washington Sports Massage Team, where he and another practitioner teach sports massage skills across the state. Lesieur’s last known address was in Woodland.
In May 2014, Lesieur was hired to teach 20 hours of sports massage coursework at the Port Townsend School of Massage in northwest Washington state. At the time, the student was enrolled in classes at the school and was scheduled to graduate in June 2014. Because she had recently been ill and missed class, the student was required to make up the missed class hours in a private tutoring session with Lesieur, which is not uncommon.
The student said she did not report Lesieur’s actions to the school of massage because “she was focused on launching her career, her mother’s health was poor, she wanted to put it behind her,” and because “she did not want to be accused of fabricating allegations against an instructor,” according to health department records.
The health department learned of Lesieur’s actions after Susan Sherman, director of the Port Townsend School of Massage, filed a complaint against Lesieur after she became aware of his actions during the tutoring session through a social media post made by a friend of the student.
During a hearing, Lesieur said he could not remember the student, even though she was the only one he tutored during his time at Port Townsend, and he denied the allegations against him. He stated that the student did not understand the hands-on nature of massage, even though she had been a student of the discipline for some time. Lesieur also said one of his comments to the student was meant as a joke, according to health department records.
Health officials found Lesieur’s testimony to be less credible than that of the student and placed Lesieur on probation on Sept. 20. Lesieur will be on probation for at least one year. He is required to enroll in an ethics program by Dec. 20, as well as pay a $1,000 fine to the Department of Health by September 2017.
At this time, no criminal charges have been filed against Lesieur. The investigation, charges and report conducted by the Department of Health were regarding his license with the state of Washington to practice massage.
Lesieur did not return requests for comment.
The owner of Breathe Yoga and Massage also could not be reached for comment.
