Massage Therapist Eric Elliott Gets Probation in South Philly Sexual Assault Case
He can thank his accuser, who tells Philly Mag, "I wasn't out for revenge."
Philadelphia massage therapist Eric Elliott after a South Philadelphia woman accused him of sexual assault
Way back in 2016, a Rittenhouse Square woman accused Philadelphia massage therapist Eric Elliott of sexually assaulting her during a massage inside her home. A first trial resulted in a mistral — the second, an acquittal. Then in 2021, a South Philadelphia woman accused Elliott of sexually assaulting her during a massage inside her home. But this time, there would be no acquittal.
On Tuesday at the Criminal Justice Center, Elliott, his attorney Vincent Lorusso, his accuser, and an assistant district attorney all appeared for a 9 a.m. trial, where a jury was set to hear the case against him. The charges included felony aggravated indecent assault and misdemeanor indecent assault.
But at the last minute, Elliott accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to simple assault and harassment. The court dismissed the indecent assault charges and sentenced Elliott to three years of probation. Also part of the plea deal: he’d be supervised during probation by the sex offender unit and required to undergo sex offender evaluation, though he is not, at this time, required to register as a sex offender. Plus, the judge banned him from giving massages while under supervision.
“I am actually really satisfied,” Elliott’s accuser tells Philly Mag. (At her request, we are not publishing her name.) “I wasn’t out for revenge. I wasn’t looking for punishment. Honestly, incarceration does not align with my belief system. I don’t think jail would have rehabilitated him. In fact, he could have come out hardened and even more dangerous.”
When she addressed Elliott at the hearing on Tuesday, just before sentencing, she spoke about the Jewish practice known as Teshuvah.
“We believe in this process of repairing harm,” she said to Elliott from the stand. “And it begins with first admitting to the harm.”
She says that Elliott looked away from her as she spoke to him and that the judge wasn’t having any part of it.
“She reamed him out and told him she didn’t like his demeanor,” recalls Elliott’s accuser. “Literally yelled at him. She said that he was acting like a victim, while here is this humble and compassionate actual victim. She actually increased his probation time from what was originally agreed to because of the way he was acting.”
While she says that she’s satisfied with the outcome and relieved that the “humiliating” experience is over, she is worried that Elliott will continue to give massages despite the judge’s order. It’s not an unreasonable concern.
In February 2022, a week after Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed charges against Elliott in the South Philadelphia case, the state’s Board of Massage Therapy suspended Elliott’s massage license. A state prosecutor had successfully argued to the board that Elliott was an “immediate and clear danger to the public health and safety.” And yet, in July 2022, Elliott showed up at a Delco woman’s house to give a massage, as we discovered for ourselves when we were there upon his arrival, as part of Philly Mag’s investigation into him. Less than two weeks after we published our report, the state board fully revoked his massage license.
It’s unclear what Eric Elliott’s future in the massage world might be after his probation is over. But his South Philadelphia accuser hopes he finds another profession: “This is an industry that is just ripe for abuse.” When reached for comment on Wednesday morning, Lorusso, Elliott’s attorney, assured Philly Mag that his client would abide by the judge’s order and refrain from giving massages while on probation.
“I don’t think she could have been any more clear about it,” Lorusso says of the judge’s orders.
His accuser isn’t so sure.
“He didn’t care before,” she says. “So why should he care now? And what’s to stop him from doing massages under a different name?”
