Warning: this story contains graphic content about sexual assault.
A judge will soon make a decision after hearing testimony from alleged victims of a former Victoria masseur charged with 10 counts of sexual assault.
The 19-day trial of Ajesh Jacob — who pleaded not guilty — came to its end on Thursday, Nov. 14. The judge heard testimony that detailed Jacob, who went by Sam at the time, inappropriately touching clients between 2019 and 2021 at Big Feet, a Victoria reflexology studio.
On the last day of the trial, Crown prosecutor Lorne Phipps made submissions to Justice Catherine Murray, summarizing some of the testimonies from the women throughout the trial.
Phipps explained that one of the alleged victims, whose name is protected by a publication ban, said the masseur reached to touch her vagina and "she freaked out" and pushed him off of her. She claimed she got changed and when she went to pay, she saw him again and he gave her his business card.
A second woman claimed the practitioner had left the room, and when he returned, he proceeded to massage the alleged victim’s neck and chest.
“[Jacob] pulled the sheets down and started playing with her nipples,” said Phipps. “He then put his hand inside her underwear, and with his fingers, he touched her clitoris and inner labia," Phipps told the court. “She told him to stop and pushed him away."
Murray, along with defence attorney Jordan Watt, questioned the validity of some of the witnesses, including the second woman whose use of medication, Murray said, raised concerns about her reliability, and that she was "unreasonably combative during her cross-examination."
During concluding statements, Phipps asked the justice to evaluate the evidence and individual cases not in isolation, but in the context of the evidence as a whole.
Watt, meanwhile, pointed out possible inconsistencies with some of the witnesses testimonies, including two of the alleged victims having a conversation following the first public accusations against Jacob on a public Instagram post before his arrest, which Watt said could have tainted some of the evidence.
"A fundamental principal of criminal law, is that the evidence of one count, can not be used to prove the guilt of another count," said Watt. "With the issue of tainting and collusion, it doesn't have to be the creation of something in its entirety, it can be something that's impacted what they think happened to them."
He also touched on an ongoing civil case against Jacob for his alleged actions at Big Feet, mentioning the testimony of one of the victims earlier, who acknowledged there could have been a motivation for financial gain.
The justice will make her decision in early December, with a fix-date hearing for the decision being held on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
