Third sexual battery count lodged against Mid-City massage therapist - NOLA.com

[massage]

A Mid-City massage therapist arrested in December on allegations that he touched female clients inappropriately has had a third count of sexual battery added as his charges were accepted for prosecution, court records show.

In a bill of information filed May 19, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office lodged three counts of sexual battery against Norman Nail, operator of the Advanced Healing massage studio near the corner of Canal and St. Patrick streets.

Nail, 52, was booked Dec. 22 with two counts of sexual battery, after police complaints were lodged in December 2015 and September 2016 by separate clients. The new third count indicates another accuser has come forward since Nail's arrest or authorities developed evidence of an additional alleged offense.

Nail has remained free on a $10,000 bond while awaiting prosecutors' charging decision. He is scheduled to enter a plea at a June 12 arraignment before Criminal District Judge Darryl Derbigny now that the case has been accepted. Nail faces up to 10 years in prison on each count if convicted.

Nail's attorney Brad Egenberg said in December that his client "is both factually and legally innocent of any wrongdoing."

Arrest documents said two NOPD sex crimes detectives were conducting independent investigations of Nail before conversing about their cases and realizing they had the same suspect. One woman accused Nail of violating her genitals during a massage in December 2015. A second woman made similar accusations of improper touching during a massage on Sept. 27, 2016. After DNA samples were collected from Nail in each case, a warrant for his arrest was approved on Dec. 13.

According to arrest documents, the first accuser said in December 2015 she booked a "lymphatic drainage massage," a $100 session advertised on Nail's website as a way to enhance the immune system and promote weight loss. The woman told police that Nail advised her in advance that "it was a very intimate procedure," and that she consented to being massaged on her buttocks and inner thighs.

However, the woman said that during the massage, she felt Nail insert a finger into her vagina, and felt lingering burning there from what she believed was a peppermint oil. She told police she initially "was in shock," then stopped the massage 25 minutes before its scheduled completion, telling Nail she had to leave to pick up her children. The woman said she left and immediately called police, then agreed to complete a sexual assault kit at a local hospital.

Detective Claudia Bruce wrote in her report that she interviewed Nail in 2015, and that he denied digitally penetrating his client. Even though Nail agreed the woman cut the massage session short, Nail said that "he asked her was she not pleased with the service and that she replied that nothing was wrong," according to Bruce's report.

Bruce wrote that a sample of Nail's DNA was collected. But no arrest warrant was obtained until after fellow detective Brandon McDonald told Bruce nine months later that he was investigating a separate sexual battery complaint made against Nail.

In that second case, a woman booked a massage at Nail's studio last Sept. 27, according to court documents. She told police that about 30 minutes into the session she began to feel uncomfortable, as Nail touched her breast and anus and repeatedly massaged close to her vaginal area while engaging in conversation about sex and her number of sexual partners. The report said the woman told police she "did not want him to touch her that way, and felt violated."

The report said that when she complained about the touching, Nail told her he "was only trying to read the signals in her body."

The second accuser also completed a sexual assault kit, and on Oct. 4 a new search warrant was approved seeking another DNA sample from Nail for comparison. A warrant for his arrest was approved last Dec. 13 and Nail was arrested nine days later.

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