Former Boulder massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting, groping clients set for trial

Mitchell Byars, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
·2 min read

Sep. 24—A former massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting and groping multiple clients is set for trial in February.

Matthew Neil Mandel, 41, pleaded not guilty on Sept. 9 to one count of sexual assault and eight counts of unlawful sexual contact, according to online court records.

Mandel is set for a four-day trial on Feb. 22, along with a motions hearing on Jan. 12.

He remains out of custody on a personal recognizance bond.

According to an arrest affidavit, a woman told Boulder police she went to Massage Specialists in Boulder in April 2019 and was given an appointment with Mandel.

According to the affidavit, the woman said Mandel began to move her underwear and grope her. He then made her flip over and groped her again.

The woman said she did not discuss him touching her because she was "frightened," but said she was crying for most of the time.

The woman did not initially report the case to law enforcement, but eventually she learned Mandel had other complaints filed against him for similar behavior and she went to police. After the case was reported, detectives found another case in which another woman made similar allegations about Mandel for an incident while he was working at Colorado Athletic Club in Boulder.

In that case, a woman said Mandel also moved her underwear and groped her in September 2019, but also performed oral sex on her even after she told him to stop.

He was suspended the day the incident was reported to Colorado Athletic Club, and resigned the next day.

According to the affidavit, Mandel also was accused in a July 2019 incident that was reported to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies. In that incident, the woman made accusations of "inappropriate sexual behavior by Mandel in the treatment room during and after massages" at Bodywork for Liberation, which was in Louisville at the time. That woman did not choose to pursue a criminal case.

Mandel's massage therapy license was revoked on Jan. 27, 2020, by the state after he declined to respond to any of the allegations and the state "found that the public health, safety or welfare imperatively required emergency action and/or respondent deliberately and willfully violated the Colorado Massage Therapy Practice Act," according to the affidavit.