'We aren't doing our job': State board examines why convicted sex offenders still have massage licenses - KTNV 13 Action News Las Vegas

[Darcy Spears]

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Nevada State Board of Massage Therapists is required by law to immediately suspend the license of any therapist charged with a sex crime, as soon as the board is notified by law enforcement.

But that doesn't always happen.

And though there was a lot of discussion about that at a meeting last week, the board was all talk and no action.

"I know that there's been some public scrutiny about this process lately," said NSBMT Public Member Bill Schoen, who noted that our reports, which he called "alarming," sparked a conversation about whether the massage board is doing its job as the law requires — to take action against massage therapists charged with sexual misconduct.

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"So, there's been some disconnect with how things get handled," said Executive Director Elisabeth Barnard in the board's Jan. 8 meeting.

That disconnect was made clear not only through our reporting, but also with another case that came before the board that day.

Court records show Brian K. Blanchard was charged with sexually motivated coercion in 2022. The incident, as described in a Massage Board complaint, happened at the Vdara Spa.

Blanchard allegedly masturbated a male client and put his mouth on the client's genitals. The client told police he "was in shock."

Blanchard pleaded guilty in August 2024, blaming his actions on the lingering effects of anesthesia after a colonoscopy three days prior to the assault.

"I don't know how many people Propofol affects this way," Blanchard said. "I remained under the influence of a drug, and that's the only way that something like this would've happened, because I'm not, you know, I'm not a bad person. I could never intentionally do harm to another human being, and I would never have done this, and I have never done this before in my massage practice."

The Massage Board's staff was first notified by law enforcement about Blanchard's sex offense in early 2023. State law says the executive director should have immediately issued a cease and desist order temporarily suspending Blanchard's license for 15 days.

Did that happen? When Board Member Schoen asked, no answer was forthcoming.

"I can't get an answer right now to figure out if Brian Blanchard was ever served with anything to suspend his license!" Schoen exclaimed.

Other board members also questioned why they weren't told of the charges in 2023, or the guilty plea in August 2024.

"If the individual pled guilty to the charges — which he did — why did we not step in and pull his license at that time?" asked Board Member Alan Kite-Swinden.

"Why are we having the hearing on January 8th of 2025?" Schoen added.

"I can't answer that," said Colleen Platt, the board's private lawyer.

Two years after the Massage Board was notified of the charges, and nearly five months after he pleaded guilty to a sex crime, Blanchard was allowed to voluntarily surrender his massage license.

"I take full responsibility if things were not done correctly," said Barnard, "but I really trusted the processes that were in place."

Another hole in the oversight process was revealed when board members learned that staff also don't tell employers when a therapist's license is suspended.

"So, I can get a suspension and I can keep going to work every day as if nothing happened. And my employer doesn't know, and the board doesn't know," Kite-Swinden pointed out. "We don't notify the employer?"

"No," Platt responded. "We're not tracking who their employer is."

The board has the power to change that, which I pointed out during public comment, saying, "Doctors have to report who they work for to their state board, and that information is made available to the public on the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners website. If your licensees have to report who they work for to this board, then that information would be available. Then at least you'd know. And why wouldn't you want to know?"

The other case that caused concern for board members was the one we reported in December. Massage therapist David Peter Trecha was arrested for assaulting a client at the Westgate Spa in September 2023. He was charged and released pending trial. While out of jail, he got hired at Massage Heights on Warm Springs and Stephanie in Henderson where he assaulted a second woman during a massage in February, 2024.

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State law says the NSBMT should have issued Trecha a cease and desist order after learning of the first sexual misconduct charge. But, as we reported, that did not happen, even though Las Vegas Metropolitan Police notified the board's executive director.

Board members were kept in the dark about that until we shined a spotlight on it.

"The case in the media..." noted Board Member John Teng. "He went and found another job and assaulted another person. So, we are not doing our job when that second person gets assaulted."

"We will discuss the process completely today to make sure we all understand the process, and if there are any changes that we can make so that doesn't happen," said Board Chair Rebecca Dorangricchia.

The contentious discussion about the board's investigative process left board members with more questions than answers about a system that can allow offenders to escape timely accountability.

"We are looking at trying to make sure that we've got, I guess, more of a black and white approach to things, and leaving very few things to any shades of gray," Barnard said.

The board currently has a bill draft in progress to present in the upcoming legislative session which may ask lawmakers to give them more teeth.

There's also a pending bill that would create more accountability for all state boards by subjecting them to oversight by the Nevada Department of Business and Industry.


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