Alleged Bad Touches Land Masseur in Jail
a Middletown masseur has been arrested
Masseur accused of bad touches.
Massage parlor ownership is not a career path you might expect from a convicted sex offender and an East Haddam man who owns one in Middletown is in trouble with the law again. He was charged with a sexual offense.
Police say that Douglas Spingola, 50, inappropriately touched three women on different occasions in his massage parlor. He was arrested at his business, Superssage, on Washington Street in Middletown. Police said they had been investigating for three months.
Spingola's motto is "relax, refresh, rejuvenate. On his Web site, Superssage.com, Spingola says that, “being a message therapist is something that I’ve always wanted to do.”
The site also lists Spingola as being National Board Certified and a member of the American Massage Therapy Association. It fails to mention that Spingola is a convicted sex offender.
“I don’t think that should be legal,” said Gina Lugli who was out to dinner in Middletown. “That’s really scary. You’re letting people touch you in a way that you trust a doctor, so you wish you can trust someone like that too.”
No one answered the door at Spingola’s home in East Haddam on Saturday night. Spingola was charged with three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault. He is being held on $75,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 11.
Though the thought of a convicted sex offender owning and operating a massage parlor might sound outlandish, some people say that nothing is shocking anymore.
“Anything is possible these days, but to happen in Middletown is surprising,” Jim Casey, of Middletown, said.
Posted Saturday, Nov 28, 2009 - 10:50 PM EST
