The Lisbon Court of Appeal has overturned the preventive detention measure applied to a man posing as a physiotherapist, who was arrested for committing sexual crimes at a “health and wellness establishment” in Oeiras, between December of last year and April of this year. According to the three judges, the victim’s will was not “discernible” to the man, as “the victim […] never verbally expressed any opposition.”
Initially, the Cascais Court found “a specific grave danger of public order and tranquility, given that rape crimes generate feelings of social alarm and insecurity among the population,” while emphasizing that the 49-year-old defendant had “already faced an accusation for committing a similar crime as in the current proceedings, three counts of aggravated rape,” which “seriously threatened the danger of continued criminal activity.”
“We believe that no other coercive measure is suitable or sufficient to safeguard the serious situation at hand, including home detention, which in our understanding, does not mitigate the risk of continued criminal activity nor the danger of disturbing public order and tranquility,” the court stated.
The man, who “does not possess any legally valid title for practicing Physiotherapy or Osteopathy,” met the victim for a back treatment in 2024. During one session, the man “inserted his hand inside BB’s trousers and began massaging her groin.” Later, he arranged for a treatment in a pool with water jets on her back, and consummated the rape. In the sauna area equipped with showers, he forced the victim to kneel for oral sex. These sexual abuses were repeated at least two more times.
“The defendant acted with the concrete intention of satisfying his sexual instincts, aiming to constrain BB’s sexual freedom, fully aware that these acts were likely to result in such and were against her will, which did not deter him from adopting such behaviors. […] In all the described conduct, the defendant acted freely, voluntarily, and consciously, knowing that his conduct was criminally prohibited and punishable,” the court argued.
The false healthcare professional was detained by the Judicial Police for committing sexual crimes at a “health and wellness establishment” in Oeiras. The crimes were committed between December of last year and this past April.
The organization noted that the 24-year-old woman also exhibited “emotional vulnerabilities and yet undetermined psychological pathology, derived from her life history, known to the defendant, which he exploited to satisfy his libidinous urges.” Additionally, the victim only paid for the first consultation, which created “a feeling of indebtedness” to the defendant, whom she met through her father, also his client.
The individual, who presented himself as a “reiki master,” continued to message the victim “frequently,” even after the young woman stated, “I don’t want the aforementioned situations to happen again and nothing that happened was consensual.”
The victim confessed to only reporting the case “almost four months after the first episode due to feeling a ‘sense of guilt,'” as “she resumed attending consultations.” She also feared “any reprisals against her, as the suspect was very persistent and pressured her psychologically to attend consultations as well as the pool.” The young woman also reported feeling “panicked” and “static” during the rape.
“I feared what might happen, but I couldn’t react. I’m like this, I suffer from anxiety and also experience panic attacks, I react by freezing. […] I felt like a puppet, unresponsive, with a stiff body,” she stated.
Despite not having “criminal records,” the man was “charged as a defendant given strong evidence of touching a ‘patient’ in various body areas, including genital zones while performing duties,” as well as making “obscene sexual remarks and [kissing] the neck” of another client. However, the latter case was dismissed due to the withdrawal of the complaint.
The false treatments occurred last year and this week the 49-year-old suspect was arrested. The 24-year-old victim filed a complaint with the Public Security Police, which activated the Judicial Police.
For the three appeal judges, the victim’s will was not “discernible” to the man, as “the victim […] never verbally expressed any opposition” to the acts and returned to the practice, thus justifying the overturning of preventive detention in favor of “measures requiring periodic reporting (three times a week) to the police station in the area of his residence.”
Dissenting, Judge Ivo Rosa noted that, “although agreeing with the decision to revoke the preventive detention measures and their grounds, [he does not support] the majority’s decision concerning the application of the measure requiring periodic reporting […], since he believes the risks of continued criminal activity and disruption of the investigation are not demonstrated.”
“The facts that are strongly indicated pertain to the crime of assuming functions improperly, and since we are within the scope where the defendant is presumed innocent, it does not allow us to conclude, without further, that he has an anti-legal personality and, even less, that he will continue with this specific criminal activity or that he is in the process of or intends to destroy or render more difficult the acquisition of evidence still needed,” he wrote.
