Former KU athletics massage therapist found guilty of sex crimes with athletes, child
Shawn O’Brien, a former University of Kansas athletics massage therapist, has been found guilty at trial of sex crimes involving student athletes and a minor child.
O’Brien, of Lawrence, was convicted Thursday with three felonies of aggravated indecent liberties with a child plus five misdemeanors of sexual battery. O’Brien was accused of touching a girl under 14 years old in his home and also inappropriately touching his massage clients at his place of business while working for the women’s soccer team, prosecutors said.
Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez said in a statement Thursday that O’Brien used his position to “gain access to victims.”
“Girls and women deserve to feel safe when turning to a practitioner for help, and this office will prosecute accordingly,” Valdez said.
Before the criminal allegations came to light, O’Brien had been contracted by Kansas Athletics to provide massage services to women’s athletics teams since 2015, according to university officials.
An internal investigation was later opened by the university in March 2020 after O’Brien was charged with the child sex crime.
Over the course of that investigation, KU officials found at least six female athletes who reported inappropriate conduct, including unwanted touching by O’Brien. According to the investigation, at least one of the university’s athletic trainers was aware of some of the allegations but failed to appropriately report it.
Other findings later publicly released by university officials included O’Brien’s history of providing free massages to the general student body during KU Alumni’s “Finals Dinner” events between 2011 and 2019. He gave out gift cards that “may have led to off-campus massages at his office,” KU said at the time.
O’Brien was listed as operating Kamehameha Massage LLC, according to Kansas business records. He owned the business starting in 2009. It dissolved in February 2019 because O’Brien became the “sole proprietor,” according to state records.
O’Brien is scheduled to appear in court for a sentencing hearing on Sept. 24.
The Star’s Jesse Newell and Katie Bernard contributed to this report.
