SDPD – NBC 7 San Diego

Christopher Scott Preston never had a license as a massage therapist, San Diego police said. On Tuesday, he said a license number was listed on a Groupon page, but that he made it up and has been operating his business based on that lie for six years.

So far, three women have come forward claiming that 55-year-old Preston sexually harassed them.

According to investigators, the first woman came forward in August 2023. She said she went to Preston for lymphatic drainage and was sexually abused there.

The woman initially did not agree to continue the investigation, but then a second woman came forward in December last year and a third woman in April.

In a criminal complaint, the women accused Preston of groping them and sexually abusing them with a foreign object.

A key part of the investigation was a 50% off Groupon ad that police say Preston used to attract customers. The offer shows reviews, business hours and the wrong license number.

“Be very cautious with ads,” said Dan Sayasan, a lieutenant with the San Diego Police Sex Crimes Unit. “I mean, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true. So be sure to make sure the company is reputable and licensed before you proceed.”

NBC 7 reached out to Groupon for comment. Spokesman Mike Tepeli responded:

“At Groupon, the safety and well-being of our customers is our highest priority. We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and cooperate with authorities when necessary. We are gathering more information about this incident we learned about today. In the meantime, we have removed the merchant's promotion from our platform. We are also refunding any outstanding vouchers and assisting customers with any questions or concerns they may have. Until we have more information, we cannot comment further at this time.”

Sayasan, who said the store was closed several months ago, added that there may be more victims besides the three who have come forward and that he encourages them to do so.

“In many of these cases, victims are either embarrassed to disclose because they don't know if that's part of the massage or not,” Sayasan said. “But we want people – if you're concerned about what happened to you, please come forward and talk to our investigators so we can find out.”

Preston's preliminary hearing is scheduled for later this month. If convicted, he faces up to 11 years in prison.

He has since been released from custody on the condition that he wear a GPS surveillance camera, stay 100 meters away from his former workplace, not provide professional services and not contact his alleged victims.