Akram Elmuradi of Neuromotion Therapy was found guilty after a judge rejected his story that the Ottawa university student consented to sex.
Published Jan 03, 2024 • Last updated 11 hours ago • 2 minute read
An exterior photo of the Neuromotion Therapy Centre in Ottawa’s east end. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia
The Ottawa university student, suffering from a back injury after a car accident, went to the therapy clinic for help, only to be at first deceived about the owner’s qualifications and later sexually assaulted at a most vulnerable time.
It was January 2022, and Akram Elmuradi, a co-owner of Neuromotion Therapy, was presented as a massage therapist and the only one qualified to perform a hot-stone massage. The reality was that Elmuradi had no training and everything he learned about hot-stone massage came from watching YouTube videos.
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After taking the stand in his own defence, Elmuradi was found guilty after the judge didn’t buy his story that the university student consented to sex.
“(Elmuradi) engaged in a pattern of deceitful conduct designed to set up an opportunity to have a sexual encounter with (the woman) at a time when she was in a highly vulnerable position — prone and almost completely naked on a massage table in Elmuradi’s empty clinic (on a Saturday morning),” Ontario Court Judge Tim Lipson ruled.
The judge noted the DNA evidence was compelling and said Elmuradi’s account of a fanciful tale of consensual sex was implausible and incredible.
The woman testified she told Elmuradi to stop six or seven times before pushing him away.
Elmuradi denied all of this on the stand and said it was a consensual “attraction between a boy and a girl.”
Elmuradi always paid special attention to the university student. He made a point to see her every time she came to the clinic, and, while he wasn’t qualified, he would crack her back to make what he called adjustments to help her pain.
He admitted he had no qualifications and said he did it anyway because he “owned the business.”
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He also testified that he gave the university student the hot-stone massage just for relaxation. He said it was free of charge, on his weekend off and something he liked to do.
The woman would not have agreed to the massage had she known Elmuradi was not qualified.
“Elmuradi was not a registered massage therapist or any other type of licensed health-care professional. I am also satisfied that Elmuradi took steps to deceive the complainant into believing that he was,” the judge said, noting that Elmuradi’s interest in the woman was personal, rather than clinical.
Elmuradi’s defence lawyer has not yet responded to requests for comment. When reached at the therapy clinic, a man who identified himself as Akram Elmuradi hung up the phone after being asked about the sex assault conviction and whether he would appeal.
Over the course of two months of her going to the clinic, Elmuradi gained the woman’s trust so much so that she dismissed the red flags, as the judge called them, including: The massage was scheduled when the clinic was closed and they were the only ones present, she was asked to remove her pants; the techniques were different and more intimate; and he wore a muscle shirt instead of scrubs like the other massage therapists.
“(She) put aside all of these red flags raised in her mind because she trusted (him) to be professional and appropriate,” Lipson said.
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