Former Penticton massage therapist charged with sexual assault

CONTENT ADVISORY

A former Penticton massage therapist has been charged with sexual assault, four years after the first complaint was lodged against him.

Leonard Krekic, who now lives in White Rock, has been charged with eight counts of sexual assault for offences that took place between 2001 and 2017, according to a Surrey RCMP media release issued today, July 27.

The 51-year-old was working at a clinic in Surrey when the offences took place.

Last December, the BC College of Massage therapists ordered Krekic to pay more than $100,000 and banned him for 25 years after he was found to have committed sexual misconduct on multiple women.

In one case in 2012, he touched the vagina of a patient and stuck his finger into her anus. A couple of years later he made a patient straddle him while he pushed his groin into them. The regulator found on other occasions he'd touched patients for a "sexual purpose."

In early 2019, while Krekic was working in Penticton he was placed on conditions by the regulator and made to  have a chaperone present while treating female patients.

However, later that same year he was accused of engaging in sexual misconduct with a patient while the chaperone wasn't paying attention.

Surrey RCMP said it first received a report of the sexual assault in November 2021. It's not clear why there was a two-and-a-half-year gap between the first complaint being received by the regulator and the RCMP becoming involved.

Police said Krekic was arrested, July 18, and released from custody on conditions. One of those conditions is that he doesn't work or try to work in any field that requires touching or therapeutic treatment of another person’s body, including any form of massage or fitness training.

"We are releasing a photo of Leonard Krekic as investigators believe there may be people in (Surrey) or Penticton that have additional information that could assist with advancing the investigation," Surrey RCMP Cpl. Vanessa Munn said in the press release. "We encourage anyone with information to contact Surrey RCMP Special Victim’s Unit at 604-599-0502."

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.