Ohio Massage Therapist Hit With Two Sexual Assault Allegations
An Ohio massage therapist still has his job at a 4-star resort following two sexual assault allegations.
In a recent TikTok video that has been viewed over 3.7 million times, an Ohio woman named Leanna shared devasting information. She had a very vulnerable moment as she talked about being sexually assaulted by a massage therapist on August 17, 2021, at the Grand Resort Hotel and Spa in Warren, Ohio. She reported this to the police and nothing happened. Nearly 2 and a half years later she received a phone call from the licensing board because they were taking legal action against the massage therapist, Daniel Sharfal, after a second woman came forward with very similar allegations.
Leanna talked to Cleveland 19 about how Daniel Sharfal would expose her breasts. She would pull the sheet back to cover her breasts and he would do it again. But things soon got much worse,
Everything that he was doing was just wildly uncomfortable from how high he put the drape. He spent an uncomfortable amount of time on my pelvic area, and I was sick to my stomach, my heart was pounding, I was starting to sweat, I felt like I was gonna pass out and he ended up touching my vagina and at that point, I yelled out, whoa, that’s too high.
Leanna explained in her viral TikTok video that it shouldn't have taken two assaults to do something about this horrific misconduct. Furthermore, she explains that the suspect's license was renewed on December 5th of 2023. About a year after his alleged assault on Leanna, he was put on a 1-year probation and had to pay a fine, but no legal action was taken. Since he was able to continue to work as a massage therapist at the Grand Resort Hotel and Spa, other women were not protected. Which allegedly led to another sexual assault.
Shockingly the Ohio State Medical Board cleared him of wrongdoing Wednesday night according to WKBN,
The State Medical Board said there was not sufficient evidence of sexual misconduct but noted there was an issue with the way Sharfal was draping — or covering up — his clients. The board issued a recommendation to reprimand Sharfal, and he must complete draping and patient boundary courses.
We reached out to The Grand Resort and Spa in Warren, Ohio early Wednesday morning and still have not received a response. Reports say Daniel Sharfal is still a massage therapist for the resort, but we have not been able to verify that yet.