A massage therapist allegedly assaulted an 11-year-old boy during a session at the man’s Lilburn home, according to a police report.
Marco Hernandez, 49, remained in the Gwinnett County Detention Center on a $5,700 bond on child molestation, sodomy and giving false name or information charges in the alleged July 8 sexual assault, according to jail records.
He was arrested at his Sunfield Drive that day after police said Hernandez ordered the boy to take off his clothes and sexually assaulted him, according to the report. The alleged assault occurred in a back room of the home during the 30- to 45-minute scheduled appointment, police said. The child’s mother was inside the home at the time, but the report does not indicate she was in the same room as the alleged assault.
The boy told his mom about the alleged molestation when she mentioned she wanted to take him back for another appointment, police said. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does not identify victims of sexual assault.
The boy first visited Hernandez at the home in June for a sports-related injury, according to the report. Hernandez suggested the mom schedule a second appointment to help with the boy’s leg pain. The report does not indicate that the boy was molested at the initial appointment.
The mom first came across Hernandez’s business, referred to Masajes Relanjantes in the police report, after receiving a business card police told Channel 2 Action News.
It is not known how long Hernandez has worked out of his home, but police told Channel 2 Action News he was not licensed to operate out of it. Hernandez also denied running a massage business.
“He denied several things initially,” Lilburn police Capt. Thomas Bardugon told Channel 2, “such as actually even doing massages at his residence or even having the people there at any point. He later admitted they were there.”
Bardugon believes there may be other victims as well: “There may be other victims out there that aren’t reaching out or letting us know that there’s something going on.”
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