Report: Child porn suspect fired from massage job after complaint
Editor’s note: The video above aired March 21, 2024.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The child pornography suspect who worked as a school custodian was previously fired from a massage therapy job after a client said he was inappropriate, according to a police report filed by the massage customer.
Bradley Arkesteyn, arrested Tuesday by the FBI on child pornography charges, was employed most recently as a custodian for Forest Hills Public Schools, where the 28-year-old Rockford-area man cleaned elementary schools, among other buildings.
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But in November 2022, Arkesteyn was working as a massage therapist at Simply Massage near Plainfield Avenue NE and Coit Avenue NE, based on a report from the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
On Nov. 3, 2022, a massage client told a manager at Simply Massage, and later sheriff’s deputies, that she believed Arkesteyn was trying to touch and expose her private areas during a massage.
The client, who does not want to be identified publicly, was a licensed massage therapist herself and said she identified several “unprofessional” actions by Arkesteyn that “held no practical … value during a massage.”
She told Kent County investigators that at one point in the massage, she had to take evasive action because Arkesteyn was massaging much too close to her lower private region.
At other points, she said Arkesteyn maneuvered her arms, and later the blankets, in efforts to expose her breasts.
According to the report, when Arkesteyn again ventured too close to her lower private region, she “made eye contact with him and said, ‘You need to stop.’”
At that point, the woman told a deputy Arkesteyn stopped and walked out of the room without saying anything.
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It was only when the client approached the manager on duty to report her concerns that she learned Arkesteyn was not a licensed massage therapist.
According to the sheriff’s report, he had finished massage school but had not taken the test to become licensed.
Simply Massage fired Arkesteyn after the client’s complaint, according to the sheriff’s report.
When interviewed by the sheriff’s office, Arkesteyn denied any wrongdoing during the massage.
The sheriff’s office sent the report to the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office, requesting a charge of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, a misdemeanor.
The prosecutor’s office declined charges in the case.
Prosecutor Chris Becker told News 8 there was “insufficient evidence to prove any crime.”
An attorney for the client sent a letter to Simply Massage in December 2023 instructing the business to preserve all records related to the incident. The client told News 8 a civil lawsuit against Simply Massage is pending.
News 8 left messages for Simply Massage seeking comment but did not immediately hear back.
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